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Book- (^S3lM 



61ST Congress t 
3d Session J 



/Document 
1 No. 874 



Mi's &lst Oiy-«j^.^ 3<rl sess., ]'^\o-^^\i. 

ALEXANDER S. CLAY 

(Late a Senator from Georgia) 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF 
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES 

SIXTY-FIRST CONGRESS 
THIRD SESSION 



2-7^ 



Proceedings in the Senate 
February 18, 1911 



Proceedings in the House 
February 19, 1911 



COMPILED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING 






WASHINGTON 

1911 



\\-2 b^l-'^ 



is 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Page. 

Proceedings in the Senate 5 

Prayer by Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce, D. D 5, 7 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Bacon, of Georgia 8 

Mr. Scott, of West Virginia 18 

Mr. Taliaferro, of Florida 21 

Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina 25 

Mr. Lodge, of Massachusetts 27 

Mr. Overman, of North Carolina 29 

Mr. Carter, of Montana 33 

Mr. Bailey, of Texas 36 

Proceedings in the House 41 

Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D 42 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Hardwick, of Georgia 44 

Mr. Burgess, of Texas 50 

Mr. Richardson, of Alabama 52 

Mr. Davis, of Minnesota 55 

Mr. Brantley, of Georgia 59 

Mr. Adamson, of Georgia 64 

Mr. Hughes, of Georgia 69 

Mr. Bell, of Georgia 74 

Mr. Cullop, of Indiana 76 

Mr. Lee, of Georgia 83 

Mr. Edwards, of Georgia 88 

Mr. Burnett, of Alabama 92 

Mr. Bartlett, of Georgia 95 



[3] 




HON- ALEXANDER S. CLAY 



% V 



DEATH OF HON. ALEXANDER S. CLAY 



Proceedings in the Senate 

Monday, December 5, 1910. 

The Vice President (James S. Sherman, of New York) 
called the Senate to order at 12 o'clock noon. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce, D. D., offered 
the following prayer: 

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, in whose presence 
we now stand, look with favor, we pray Thee, upon Thy 
waiting servants now before Thee, and gi'aciously hear 
the common supplication which with one heart and with 
one mind we make unto Thee. 

The absent faces remind us anew that it is not in us 
who walk to direct our steps, and that we are ever de- 
pendent upon Thee, without whom not a sparrow fall- 
eth. We remember before Thee, our Father, those of 
our body whom Thou hast called from these earthly 
courts to Thine higher service, and pray that there as 
here they may be compassed about by Thine everlasting 
arms. 

And for us, as we gird ourselves for the work to which 
Thou hast called us, we pray that we may be guided by 
T\ty wisdom, and upheld by Thy strength; that this ses- 
sion, begun in Thy name, may be continued by Thy 
grace and ended to Thy gloiy. 

And unto the name which is above eveiT name will 
we render praise, now and for evermore. Amen. 

[5] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



Mr. Bacon. Mr. President, with great personal sorrow, 
which I know is fully shared by all Senators, by whom 
he was so universally beloved, I have to announce to 
the Senate the death of my late colleague. Senator 
Alexander S. Clay. He died three weeks ago, on the 
13th day of November, in Atlanta, Ga., near his home. 

The time and the occasion, Mr. President, will not 
now permit, but hereafter, during the present session 
of Congress, I shall ask the Senate to set apart a day 
when suitable tribute may be paid to his memory. 

I now, Mr. President, offer the following resolutions 
for the consideration of the Senate : 

The Vice President. The Secretary will read the reso- 
lutions offered by the Senator from Georgia. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows : 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of the Hon. Alexander S. Clay, late a Senator from the 
State of Georgia. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of tliese reso- 
lutions to the House of Representatives. 

The Vice President. The question is on agreeing to 
the resolutions. 
The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 



January 21, 1911. 

Mr. Bacon. Mr. President, I desire to give notice, speak- 
ing for my colleague and myself and also for the Senators 
from Iowa, that on Saturday, the 18th day of February, 
we shall ask the Senate at half past 2 o'clock to suspend 
the ordinaiy business for the purpose of listening to 
tributes to be paid to the memory of my former col- 
league, Mr. Clay, and of the former Senator from Iowa, 
Mr. DoUiver. 



[6] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



Saturday, February 18, 1911. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce, D. D., offered 
the following prayer: 

Eternal God, our heavenly Father, with whom do live 
the spirits of them that depart hence and with whom 
the souls of the faithful evermore dwell, to Thee alone 
can we turn in this hour of sorrow and of loss. Thy com- 
passions have been ever of old, and because Thy faith- 
fulness changeth not, therefore are we not cast down. 
As Thou dost call us to this day of memoiy, when not 
as we would but as we are able to speak forth the 
praise of Thy servants, help us, we pray Thee, by the 
light of their lives to be faithful in duty, loyal to the serv- 
ice of our country, and obedient to the heavenly vision, 
because of those who walk no more with us on earth. 

And unto Thee, who art the light of them that sit in 
darkness and who dost comfort all that mourn, giving 
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the 
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, will we 
ascribe praise now and for evermore. Amen. 

Mr. Bacon. Mr. President, I offer the resolutions which 
I send to the desk. 

The Vice President. The resolutions will be read. 

The resolutions were read, considered by unanimous 
consent, and unanimously agreed to, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of the Hon. Alexander Stephens Clay, late a Senator 
from the State of Georgia. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased the business of the Senate be now suspended to enable 
his associates to pay proper tribute to his high character and dis- 
tinguished public services. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the House of Representatives and transmit a copy 
thereof to the family of the deceased. 

[7] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Bacon, of Georgia 

Mr. President: It was a sad meeting of Senators when 
Congress convened in December last. As they gathered 
in this Chamber there were four vacant seats, four names 
absent from the roll. 

Since the end of the former session, and in the interval 
of five short months, four who were Members of this 
body and so long familiar to these scenes had passed 
away and gone to their final rest. 

As the Vice President announced the close of the 
session in June he said, " Please God that when the 
Senate assembles again next December we shall all be 
here." The echo of his fervent wish had scarcely died 
away before the veteran McEnery received his death 
stroke while still upon the railroad train that onlj^ bore 
him to his home in time to die among his loved ones. 
And then within five days thereafter passed from earth 
the knightly soul of Daniel. Onlj' too soon thereafter 
from the West there flashed over the electric wire the 
dire news that the brilliant Dolliver was dead. Last of 
these, and but three weeks before we convened in the 
present session, in his final sleep were closed the eyes 
of my own honored and loved colleague, Alexander 
Stephens Clay. Each of these was a prominent figure 
in this Chamber. The eldest of the four, McEnerj', pa- 
tient under a physical infirmity which debarred him 

[8] 



Address of Mr. Bacon, of Georgia 



from many of the enjoj'ments within the reach of others, 
firm and unswerving in his adherence to policies and 
measures approved by him. Daniel, eloquent in speech, 
in manner courtly, classic in mold of feature, and in 
his halting gait ever a picturesque reminder of the titanic 
struggle in which he bore his part. Dolliver, the orator 
whose voice rang out like a clarion and whose onset in 
debate was like a battle charge. And Clay, ever at his 
post, alert to every duty, unwearying in labor, strong 
and fearless in debate, seeking out and challenging every 
wrong, a very tribune of the people. 

The passing of these four Senators could but leave a 
great void in our midst; and their deaths, all announced 
in this Chamber within the same hour, presented a scene 
such as has never before been witnessed in the Senate 
since the foundation of the Government, and which, pray 
God, may never again be seen within these walls! 

The life of my late colleague was from his childhood 
one of unwearying activities, one of unceasing struggle 
for that which was for the better and the higher. With 
him, from boyhood, each attainment was but a step upon 
the stairway that led to a higher plane of advancement. 

He was not cradled in luxury nor were the muscles 
of his early boyhood softened in indulgent ease. He 
was the eldest son of a modest farmer in Cobb County, 
Ga., where he was born. During his boyhood he as- 
sisted his father in the manual labor of the farm. At 
one time, since the date when he became a United States 
Senator, when passing with him through his native 
county, he pointed out to me a field where as a boy, 
during the time spared from school, he had for years 
himself guided the plow and assisted in making the 
crops. On that same day he narrated to me an incident 
to which later events lent a more than ordinarj' interest. 
It was that, three years after the close of the Civil War, 



[9] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



he was called from his plow in the field to the bordering 
roadside by his father and presented to one who was 
passing by and who was to him unknown. It proved to 
be Gen. John B. Gordon, the battle-scarred veteran who, 
at 32 years of age, had, by Lee's personal selection, com- 
manded the right wing of his dauntless army. Gordon 
took the wide-eyed boy by the hand, commended his 
industry, and predicted for him a prosperous future. 
The boy with swelling heart returned to his plow, which 
he had left in the furrow, and he who was to his youth- 
ful imagination the magic hero went upon his way. 
Twenty-eight years after that first meeting, when Gen. 
Gordon closed his last term of service here, he who had 
then met him as the 15-year-old farmer boy succeeded 
him as a Senator from Georgia in this body. 

While young Clay was thus busy with the needs of 
the farm, they were not allowed to deny to him the ad- 
vantages of a liberal education, and from the common 
and high schools, through the successive grades of which 
he passed, he was transferred to Hiawassee College, in 
the State of Tennessee, where in due time he was gradu- 
ated with distinction. As the college doors closed behind 
him, he girded himself for the life work, which only 
ended when he finally laid down his burden 35 years 
later. During the years while he guided the plow in the 
field and conned his lessons in the village school, vi- 
sions of advancement and place and fortune had stirred 
within him. And now that opportunity was his, the 
profession of the law was that with which he proposed 
to achieve fortune and leadership and position in public 
life. These he was to seek thi"ough the avenues to dis- 
tinction opened in the career of a successful lawyer, 
the prize he set himself to win. Like so many men 
who in America have later achieved the highest place, 
when he left college he taught school while he prepared 

[101 



AuDRESs OF Mr. Bacon, of (Georgia 



himself for admission to the har. This he did for two 
years, teaching his scholars hy day and himself studying 
the law books at night. Among those scholai's was a 
charming, fair-haired girl. Miss Frances White, who soon 
thereafter became his loving and devoted wife, sharing 
his every burden, inspiring him in every effort, encour- 
aging him in every struggle, and proud of him in all his 
successes, ending with the highest honors within the 
power of the State to bestow. With his admission to the 
bar, his work of preparation was ended, and, like a 
strong athlete who begins a race, he entered the lists of 
endeavor. 

His rise at the bar was rapid, continuous in its progress, 
and certain and conspicuous in its achievement. So 
much so that within a few years, while still a veiy 
young man, he was one of the recognized leaders in a 
bar of exceptional ability. His success in his profession 
brought him not only prominence but also material 
reward. But it was not for him to be content with the 
fame of a successful lawyer nor with its pecuniary re- 
wards. He was not indifferent to the one nor neglectful 
of the other, but from the not distant field there fell- upon 
his ears and fired his imagination the echoes of political 
struggles, in which he was only too eager to take a part; 
and his pulses quickened as out of the mists of the years 
that stretched out before him phantom arms seemed to 
beckon him on to the public arena. He bad not long to 
await his opportunity. 

The same qualities which so distinguished him here 
made him a leader in his community and section. Soon 
he was chosen to represent his county in the legislature 
of the State, where he served for six consecutive years. 
Here again his ability and superior qualities brought him 
success, and during the last two years of his service he 
was elected and served as speaker of the house of repre- 



[II] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



sentatives. From the house of representatives he was 
transferred by popular election to the State senate, 
where he was, upon his first entrance, chosen as the 
president of that body, and so continued until the expira- 
tion of his term two years later. From being a local 
leader in his own section he had become a recognized 
leader in his State. In all the Commonwealth there was 
no man of wider and more active personal influence, and 
there have been few public men who could confidently 
number so many warm personal and political friends. 
Without seeking the position, he was chosen the head 
and leader of the Democratic Party in his State, and 
guided and conducted it through the most exciting strug- 
gle for political mastery with the Populist Party. Soon 
thereafter an unexpected stroke of fate opened the door 
to him which led to the Senate. Upon the approaching 
close of the senatorial term of Gen. John B. Gordon, 
Charles F. Crisp, former Speaker of the National House 
of Representatives, had by a popular primary in the 
State been chosen to succeed him; but on the eve of 
the assembling of the legislature which was to elect 
him, while his hand was outstretched to receive the 
commission which would consummate his life's ambi- 
tion, he was suddenly stricken in death, and the legisla- 
ture, in his stead, chose Clay to succeed Gordon in the 
Senate. 

He came here March 4, 1897, when 43 years of age, and 
was then sworn into ofTicc. Together on that day we 
walked from this Chamber and witnessed on the east 
front of the Capitol the first inauguration of McKinley 
on as beautiful a day as ever shone upon this or any 
other city. 

Within the limits proper for these remarks it is a 
difficult task, and in a degree an impossible one, to speak 
in reasonably adequate terms of his labors and services 



[li 



Adoress of Mk. Bacon, of Georgia 



as a Senator. From the outset he grappled earnestly 
with the task he had here set for himself. He was active 
and untiring in his labor and in his studies, and with 
each succeeding month he acquired to a greater and still 
greater extent a mastery of the work to be done in the 
Senate, until not only in the end, but during many years 
preceding the end, he was known to all the Senate, and 
to all the public as well, as one of the most hard-working, 
best-informed, and eflicient of all the Senators. 

Few people realize, or indeed imagine, to the extent 
of one-tenth of the reality the great range and extent of 
the labors of the Senator who shirks no duty, who sets 
no limit upon the range of his activities, and who en- 
deavors to set his hands to the work of the Senate wher- 
ever it is presented to him. It is a fact, realized by all 
who have been in a position to properly judge, that the 
work of the Senator has more than doubled within the 
past 13 years. This has resulted from the growth of the 
country and the veiy great development and increase in 
governmental work and in the enlargement and multi- 
plication of governmental functions. But this is not the 
only explanation of the vast range of the work of a Sen- 
ator. Because the Senate is a body small in numbers, 
and because of its liberal rules of procedure, each Sen- 
ator has the opportunity for participation and activity in 
every phase of the Senate's work. He is not limited to 
the range of a particular subject of legislation, as is 
largely the case with members of other legislative bodies 
having a large number in membership and with restric- 
tive rules. The business of the Senate, and the scope of 
its subjects for debate as well, are as wide as all the 
affairs of this great Government, not only in relation to 
its own internal affairs, but also in regard to its relations 
to the business and politics of all the earth. No small 
arena is this, and great is his task who daily engages in 

[13] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 

its struggles and who, by study and thought, is fitted for 
the arduous work. 

There are some Senators who labor only in the work 
of committees and who take no part in the debates. 
There are other Senators who do little work on com- 
mittees and who are only active in speeches or in the 
debates. Senator Clay was one of the small number 
who do both. It may be confidently said that there was 
not in the Senate a more diligent and faithful worker 
than he on its committees and in its daily routine duties. 
It is equally true that he was one of the most active de- 
baters in the Senate. Not onlj' was he an almost daily 
participant in the current debates, but when great issues 
were at stake, after careful study he prepared and de- 
livered elaborate and exceptionally strong speeches upon 
the questions involved therein. Perhaps the most nota- 
ble of these was his speech in opposition to the ship- 
subsidy bill in 1902. This was most carefully prepared 
and was an exceedingly strong and notable speech, and 
attracted the marked attention and enlisted the strongest 
commendation of the press and countiy at large. It 
made a deep impression upon the Senate. It was recog- 
nized by all as far and away the strongest speech which 
was delivered in that notable debate and as having ex- 
erted a potent influence in defeating the passage of the 
bill. 

Many other speeches of high excellence were made 
by him of which time will not now permit the mention, 
but among them his speeches on the Sugar Trust will be 
long remembered. In addition to the work of the com- 
mittees and in the open sessions of the Senate, his gen- 
eral work on a hundred lines, which are ever pressing 
here, but of which the public knows little, was iinmense. 
He not only did his own work, but was constantly help- 
ing his colleagues in the House and Senate in accom- 

[14] 



Address of Mr. Bacon, of Georgia 



plishing theirs. In common parlance he was constantly 
" on the go," either on his own business or that of some 
of his colleagues. No one ever appealed to him in vain 
for assistance. 

He was a lovable man and he was greatly beloved on 
both sides of this Chamber. That this was true of him 
even,- Senator who served with him will attest; and in 
Georgia no public man has ever been personally more 
widely loved than was he. His attention to duty, his 
fidelity to his trust, his capacity, and his official and per- 
sonal integrity had all made a deep impression upon the 
general public at large, and the announcement of his 
death elicited from the press and public men throughout 
the country heartfelt tributes to his worth and public 
services such as have been rendered to few others. He 
was the uncompromising foe of extravagance in the Gov- 
ernment and as well of everj' form of corruption. Of 
everything that could benefit the people at large he was 
the active champion. It was no affectation in him that 
he loved the common people and was devoted to their 
interest. It was with him an instinct, a part of his 
organization. He had drunk it with his mother's milk 
and it was bred into his blood and bone. To no safer 
man than he coidd have been intrusted the guarding of 
the people's interest. 

Mr. President, I have personally known 30 years of 
legislative life, 14 years in the legislature of my State, 
with annual sessions, and 16 years in the Senate of the 
United States. In those 30 j'ears I have been intimately 
associated with several thousand legislators, and I now 
say, with confidence in the correctness of my judgment, 
that, among all those thousands and in that long experi- 
ence, I have never known a legislator who combined in a 
higher degree all at the same time the excellence of in- 
dustry, fidelity, and capacity in the work of legislation. 

[15] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



Those who labored with him in the work of committees 
know how industrious and how valuable he was in that 
sphere of work. 

The Senate and the public knew of his activity in de- 
bates and in the work of the open session, while many 
thousands will attest his never-failing services in the vast 
multitudes of matters which press daily for the attention 
of a Senator and of which the general public knows 
nothing. 

There can be but little doubt but that in his death he 
was a self-immolated martjT to his oflicial duty as he 
conceived it. For more than a year he had been in a 
very alarming and precarious condition of health. With 
each succeeding month his progressing decline was pain- 
fully apparent to those who stood nearest to him. It was 
not doubted by those who watched him most closely that 
each day's labor was fixing more and more plainly the 
stamp of death upon him. He was daily conjured by 
them to leave the work and seek the restoration of his 
health, but in vain. He steadfastly refused to go. Three 
Democratic members of the Appropriations Committee 
were absent, seriously ill, and a fourth was attending the 
bedside of a member of his family in a well-nigh fatal 
illness, and he would not leave his post. With the 
shadow upon him of the wing of the hovering death 
angel he remained until the close of the session, and 
then went home to die. 

Mr. President, throughout Georgia there was universal 
sorrow when he died; and all will agree that his death 
has caused a great loss to the country and to the Senate. 
Of the personal loss that it has brought to me I can 
scarcely venture to speak. I have known him for 30 
years past. During the 14 years that he has been a 
Senator I have been most closely and most intimately 
associated with him, and during that time I have grown 



[l(i] 



Address of Mr. Bacon, of Georgia 



to love him as Jonathan loved David. During all those 
years there was never a clash or a diiTcrence between us. 
There was never a jealousy or rivalry between us. There 
was never a time when each of us was not glad to 
advance the interests of the other. I was the older in 
years and in ofTicial life, and yet I grew to lean heavily 
upon him and drew strength from his sustaining sup- 
port. I miss him every day and every hour. To me 
there still come the echoes of his voice, while in absent 
moments I look to his accustomed seat, as if again to see 
him there. 

Mr. President, I have consumed all the time which now 
is properly mine, and yet it seems to me that I have said 
nothing as I should of my dead friend, and I linger re- 
luctant to say my last word of him. 

At his bier stood four generations of his immediate 
family — his revered father and mother, each beyond 
fourscore in years; his loved wife and brothers; his dear 
children, five sons and one daughter; and his not less 
dear little grandson, who bears and will transmit his 
name. 

With this grief-stricken family, and with the whole 
sorrowing community, on a beautiful hilltop, in the clos- 
ing hour of a golden autumn day, we laid him to his 
final earthly sleep to await another dawn — " some ra- 
diant Easter beyond the gates of Night." 



95298°— 11 2 [17] 



Address of Mr. Scott, of West Virginu 

Mr. President: It is always a sad occasion when we 
meet together in this body to speak of the death of one 
of our associates whose work for the betterment of man- 
kind has been finished. Truly, he is the most worthy 
servant who doth well and brings sunshine into the lives 
of others. True wealth is of the heart, not of the hand; 
and Alexander Stephens Clay was a man whose ear 
was ever ready to listen to the grievances of his fellow 
man and to truly champion his cause if he considered 
that he was being unfairly dealt with or neglected. 

I had the honor of being appointed as one of the rep- 
resentatives of this honorable body to attend the funeral 
services of Mr. Clay at his home in Marietta, Ga. The 
heartfelt sympathy and loss of a community is shown 
by the last tribute paid to the one who has passed over 
the river of life into the great beyond. It was plainly 
manifest through the State, and especially at Marietta 
and Atlanta, that the hearts of the citizens of that Com- 
monwealth keenly felt their loss by the tribute they paid 
him who had served them with fidelity and sincerity of 
purpose for so many years. For humanity gives in love 
what we render in faith, and after all there is a great 
deal of humanitj' in human nature, even if it takes death 
to awaken one to the sense of love and gratitude which 
lies dormant in the mind and heart. In the death of 
Senator Clay the State of Georgia not only lost an able 
representative, an honest representative, but she lost a 
most worthy citizen, one whose place will be hard to fill 
in this body. 

[18] 



Address of Mr. Scott, of West Virginia 

Thomas Carlyle said, " Do the duty that lies nearest 
thee, the next is already clearer; " and Mr. Clay's public 
life is an example of this saying. He was fearless in his 
utterances when once he was convinced that he was 
fighting under the right Hag and for a just cause, for he 
was one who did not attempt to win the crown of life by 
dodging the crosses which are to be borne by mankind, 
for he believed that one deed of right was worth a world 
of all that we hold as creeds. Surely man must stand 
by that which is right, for when the years that we shall 
pass on earth are at an end our measures of life's deeds, 
and our bequest to mankind through the influence of 
the life we lived, we are judged by the noble deeds that 
we have done, for the man who leaves a lasting memoiy 
to the world is the man who does good deeds to and for 
his fellow man. 

It was my privilege, in the 12 years I have been a Mem- 
ber of this body, to be thrown into close personal rela- 
tions with the late Senator Clay on several committees. 
I think there is no place where we really learn the true 
character of a man or appreciate his worth as much as 
we do with those with whom we are associated in com- 
mittee work. He was always broad in his views on 
matters before the committees, yet conservative, and, 
above all things, fair to all sections and people, and with 
a most fervent desire to protect the interests of the Gov- 
ernment. He asked for notliing more than he was will- 
ing to concede to others, and he was of a most genial 
nature, companionable, and lovable. 

Well do I remember that upon one occasion he secured 
an authorization for a site and building in a town in his 
own beloved State. Shortly after, at another meeting of 
the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, he 
called its attention to the fact that he had made investi- 
gation in reference to the matter and was veiy sorry to 

ri9i 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



say that he found that he had been misinformed and 
misled as to the needs of such a building, and stated that 
it was his purpose, if opportunity offered, to rectify as 
far as possible the wrong which would be done the 
Government should such a biulding be erected. That, 
to me, bespoke the man's true character. His presence 
and efforts on the committee were most helpful to me, 
and 1 am sure I voice the sentiment of my colleagues 
when I say that it was most pleasant and beneficial to 
have him as one of its members. 

Senator Clay's voice will never again be heard in this 
Chamber; but his influence, written in " memory's halls," 
will be felt not only in this generation, but for genera- 
tions to come, as his record will be one of the beacon 
lights for others who shall follow. 

We mourn his loss, but are thankful for his great 
qualities of character and for the uplifting influences of 
his life. For — 

What is our duty here? To tend 

From good to better — thence to best; 
Grateful to drink life's cup — then bend 

Unmurmuring to our bed of rest; 
To pluck the flowers that round us bloom, 

Scattering our fragrance as we go. 
And so to live, that when the sun 

Of our existence sinks in night, 
Memorials sweet of mercies done 

May shine our names in memory's light. 
And the blest seeds we scattered bloom 

A hundredfold in days to come. 



[20] 



Address of Mr. Taliaferro, of Florida 

Mr. President: My pei-sonal acquaintance with Sen- 
ator Clay began on my coming here as a Member of this 
body nearly 12 years ago. 1 knew him, of course, as 
one of the group of great and patriotic men of which his 
State may be justly proud, but to appreciate his full 
worth, the uprightness of his character, the thorough 
justness of his nature, the cleanness of his life, and his 
devotion to duty one had to know him through close 
and intimate association. 

We here, Mr. President, so knew him, and for my 
part I can scarcely recall ever having met a more con- 
scientious or faithful man. He was faithful in his 
friendships, in his duty, and loyal to the principles in 
which he believed. All of his career, from his boyhood 
days to the end of his life, fully sustains this estimate of 
his character. He was an earnest and faithful student of 
school and college, earnest and faithful in his work of 
teaching to provide means to complete his education, 
earnest, honest, and faithful to the people in all of the 
positions to which they called him, and deserving of his 
stead}' advancement from the city council of his home 
town through the assembly and senate of his State to a 
seat in this Senate, whose wisdom and moderation in 
its relations to the complex problems of peace and war 
have won for it the name of the greatest deliberative 
body of the world. 

He regarded the position of Senator as no light or 
trivial honor. He esteemed it the highest in the gift of 
his State. He knew its responsibilities and appreciated 

[21] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



its dignity; and he gave in return a zeal and devotion 
worthy of our finest and best traditions. 

Nor can less be said of his private life. He was a 
devoted husband, a patient, indulgent, and aiTectionate 
father, and an exemplary citizen, who enjoyed and de- 
served the love and esteem of his friends and neighbors. 

I was a member of the Senate committee which at- 
tended his funeral at his Georgia home; and, while the 
duty was a sad one, there was nevertheless a sense of 
comfort in being able to show to his memory some small 
measure of the respect and affection in which I held him 
as a man. And it was a gratification to see from the 
vast concourse of people embracing eveiy walk in life — 
old and young, rich and poor, white and black — assem- 
bled from all the surrounding country to do honor to 
his memory, that our high estimate of his character was 
borne out at his own home; for there, where they knew 
him best, they loved him most. The signs of sorrow in 
their faces, the touching eulogies, the wealth of flowers, 
all eloquently testified that a good man, an upright citi- 
zen, and a faithful friend had passed away. 

I know of no duty here which Senator Clay shirked 
or performed in a half-hearted way. Diligent and faith- 
ful in all things, he was unwilling to concede to himself 
even that measure of rest which the preservation of his 
health demanded. He had pronounced views on the 
principles of government, and hesitated at no sacrifice 
of time or thought to make clear and plain to others the 
truth as he saw it. 

In the tariff session of 1909 Senator Clay was a close 
listener to all the discussions and a deep student of the 
many problems involved. He took part in the debates 
with ability, eloquence, and force. He was a dependable 
contestant on the Democratic side and a wise and ex- 
perienced legislator and counselor. 



[22] 



Address of Mk. Tali.\ferro, of Florida 

I believe that the arduous work of that session under- 
mined his health and led ultimately to his death; and so 
it may be said, I think, that he sacrificed his life to liis 
high sense of duty. 

Some of the religions of the Far East, Mr. President, 
teach their followers that the slaying of enemies in battle 
is one of the highest duties of the faithful and surely to be 
rewarded by a place in Paradise. They therefore invite 
death with a courage so matchless as to startle the world. 

The purpose of our Government, Mr. President, is not 
to kill or to destroy, but to establish justice, insure tran- 
quillity, promote the general welfare, and to secure the 
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. 

It is not founded upon the Constitution and the Decla- 
ration of Independence alone, for they are but parts of 
a fabric which rests upon that deeper and more enduring 
foundation, the teachings of the Prince of Peace — peace 
on earth and good will toward men. 

In the many problems which come before us we seem 
at times to forget this true purpose and to wander into 
devious ways, but if the tangled thread be traced to the 
end it will be found to lead unerringly to that high pur- 
pose of the fathers to establish on this soil a government 
so sound in principle as to endure throughout the ages. 
The aim of good government is, as Senator Clay realized, 
peace and good will and happiness for all. He recog- 
nized that there is no higher science than the science of 
government, and knew fully the importance of study 
and thought — the light of wisdom — to illumine the work 
of legislation. 

He had a profound consciousness of the responsibilities 
of those who make laws for their fellow men; and the 
manner of his life and death shows that he regarded no 
sacrifice too great to make and no penalty too heavy to 
pay in such a cause. 

[23] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



And so, when we review his career, its zeal and faith- 
fulness, and analyze his conceptions of the high and 
sacred purposes of government, we must bow our heads 
in approval and say to ourselves and among ourselves 
that here, too, was a soldier who died in battle. Not in 
battle to kill and destroy, but to insure to mankind for- 
ever the inestimable blessings of peace and happiness. 



[24] 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina 

Mr. President: I have not the strength — I do not feel 
able to say much on this occasion. It is a sad one for all 
of us, and peculiarly sad to me, for since I was borne 
from this city last March, to all intents and purposes, and 
the expectations of myself and my friends, a dead man, 
or one who would never return, and then find that I am 
here still, 1 feel the transitory nature of human life. We 
are as shadows who pursue one another, and soon there 
is an end. 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 

The high places we have achieved here are but a step 
to the last resting place. All this I feel vei-y deeply. 
But 1 would be unjust — recreant to myself — if I did not 
try to put a flower on each of these newly made graves. 

Since I went away, death has cut a wide swath in the 
Senate. Six of our fellows have taken that journey — 

From whose bourn no traveler returns. 

1 feel death is even now peeping at us around this 
Chamber somewhere and selecting the next to summon. 

1 loved these two men. Thej' were worthy of my love. 
They were worthy of the admiration that we all felt for 
them. No two Senators who have ever been here have 
been more faithful to duty or endeavored more thor- 
oughly and completely to discharge it as they understood 
it. 1 say that not because 1 want to pay them a compli- 
ment. Such is not my purpose. 1 simply want to tell 
the truth. 

[251 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



Dolliver, as we all called him, was a great man. Great 
men are plentiful in this country, but not as great as 
Dolliver. Good men are plentiful in this counti-y, but 
not as good as Cl.\y. They both have left us and we 
know not how soon our own time may come. I feel that 
with especial force. But — but, I can not go on, Mr. Presi- 
dent. I have thoughts, but the words will not come. 
So I will sit down. 



[26] 



Address of Mr. Lodge, of Massachusetts 

Mr. President: My acquaintance, which soon grew into 
friendship, began with Senator Clay when he entered 
the Senate. We formed a standing pair which con- 
tinued unbroken tliroughout his service. This brought 
us gradually into a close relation, and I came to know 
him well. Increased knowledge brought increased 
friendship and respect, which is not always the case. 
He was eminently a lovable man. His simplicity of 
nature, the directness of his outlook upon men and upon 
life, his straightforward ways, his kindness and sympathy 
all grew upon one, were all qualities that appealed alike 
to one's affection and respect. He had fought his way 
up in the world and attained to the highest positions by 
hard work and by the strong, simple qualities of both 
mind and character. But he had none of the aggressive 
vanity which too often accompanies such a career and 
such achievements. Because he had learned something 
for himself he did not at once conclude that it was un- 
known until it had appeared above his own horizon. 
Because in the ocean of human thought he discovered an 
island, he did not immediately decide that it had never 
before been trodden bj' man. He was wholly free from 
that consuming egotism which is of such a quality that it 
can permit nothing but its possessor to be seen or heard. 
This, in a roundabout way, is saying that Senator Clay 
was as modest as he was simple and as unpretentious as 
he was straightforward. 

I have thus spoken of him as a friend, of the qualities 
which made him a friend to be desired and loved, all 

[271 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



too insufficiently I well know, but that is the thought 
which is uppermost in my mind. I must think first, when 
I come to speak of him here, as the friend I have lost. 

It would be most unsatisfying, however, to stop there. 
Others, better instructed than 1, will give here the record 
of his early life, of his labors and success, and of his 
steady progress to distinction and to fields of large use- 
fulness. But I can not close without a word as to his 
public service as I saw it here from day to day and year 
to year. Senator Clay was a good Senator, a good and 
an able legislator. He was diligent and thorough, and 
was especially industrious in that unadvertised but essen- 
tial task, the work of committees, where laws and policies 
are shaped and where the glaring and deceptive head- 
line rarely penetrates. He was equallj' diligent and 
I^ainstaking on the floor. Better than anyone else, per- 
haps, can 1 bear witness to his faithful attendance, to his 
rare absence from a vote. He came well prepared to 
debate and knew and understood the subjects he dis- 
cussed, but although he took a due share in all discus- 
sions, he wasted no time and never sought to utter words 
merely for the pleasure of utterance. He was not a time 
waster and was impatient of that pleasing occupation 
when indulged in by others. He was a high-minded, 
honorable man, a faithful public servant, an honor alike 
to the State which sent him and to the Senate of the 
United States. He bore his ill health and its trials with 
great patience and courage and kept at his work with 
conscientious fidelity under great difficulties. His death 
left a gap here not easily to be filled, but to his friends 
will always remain a sense of abiding loss, for he com- 
manded not only public confidence, but the affection of 
all who knew him well. 



[281 



Address of Mr. Overman, of North Carolina 

Mr. President: For Senator Clay I entertained a real 
affection. For him as a Senator I had great respect, and 
I would be untrue to myself if I did not add to what 
has been already so beautifully and justly said, a simple 
and modest tribute to his memoi'y. 

The great State of Georgia has furnished to the coun- 
try a long list of great men who have been distinguished 
at the bar, in the pulpit, and in statesmanship, some of 
whom have gained renown in the Halls of Congress. 

She may have had greater orators, for I doubt if any 
State ever produced such thrilling orators as Bishop 
George F. Pierce and Benjamin H. Hill. She may have 
had some greater statesmen, for few States have fur- 
nished greater statesmen than Williana H. Crawford, 
Robert Toombs, and Alexander H. Stephens, who in 
statecraft had few superiors. But Georgia has never had 
a more faithful representative to serve her in this body; 
her people have had no more loyal, devoted public serv- 
ant or one who did more for his State than Alexander 
Stephens Clay. 

He first saw the light upon a farm in the beautiful and 
fertile Piedmont section of Georgia, 

Where the heart of nature 
Beats strong amid her hills. 

There, as Burns said of the poetic genius of Scotland, 
the guardian fate of his native State — 

Found him at the plovv' and threw her inspiring mantle over 
him. 

[29] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



From young manhood to that scene which was his 
latest he coiild always be found in the path of duty and 
honor. He grew up in the country, among the plain peo- 
ple. He was one of them. He had their confidence to a 
marked degree, and they had his love; and their interests 
he always had at heart. From the hour he entered pub- 
lic life his State heaped honors upon him, refusing not 
even the highest and rarest in her gift, until, while yet in 
his young manhood, they elevated him to a seat in this 
body. Three times he was elected to represent his State 
in the Seriate of the United States — twice elected without 
opposition — and at the time of his sad taking-off he was 
serving the middle of his third term. Almost to the verj' 
last, while disease and almost the hand of death was 
upon him, he remained here at his post of duty, unmind- 
ful and heedless of the advice and urgent appeals of his 
friends and colleagues to desist from work and go away 
for rest. 

He will be remembered here as one of the most indus- 
trious and painstaking Members of this body — always in 
his seat and ready to debate any question which would 
arise; and he never spoke but what he shed light and 
information upon the subject under consideration. He 
had an exalted conception of duty and superb courage 
to do it. Nothing could swerve him from doing that 
which he conceived was for the best interest of the peo- 
ple of his native State and the counti-y. 

In all the relations of life Senator Clay was a good 
man, a loving husband, a kind and indulgent father, a 
devoted son to his old father and mother, who still sur- 
vive him; a loyal friend, he was faithful, gentle and kind, 
modest but bold, generous but brave. He was a Chris- 
tian gentleman, worshiped by his family, loved by his 
people, admired by his colleagues, and the pride of his 
State. 



[30] 



Address of Mr. Overman, of North Carolina 

Mr. President, within the short time of 12 months death 
has invaded our midst and cast its dark chilling shadow 
over this Chamber, and six of our colleagues have been 
borne away by the mysterious rider upon the pale horse 
into the great beyond — a journey which the humble and 
the great, the rich and the poor, and we, too, all alike, 
some day must take. We are continually brought face 
to face with the great mystery. Every day some friend 
departs, and fewer and fewer our band of friends be- 
come. And we are reminded that — 

There is no union here of hearts 
That finds not here an end. 

Senator Clay was a firm believer in the Christian 
religion. He had great faith in the immortality of the 
soul. With him it was not death to die. He was a regu- 
lar attendant upon the worship of God. I have often met 
him on the Sabbath day wending his way to church to 
spend an hour in worship. His life duty done, laying 
aside the sorrows and troubles which infest this fitful 
life of ours, while the full orb of his being was slowly 
sinking to its setting calmly until the lengthening shadows 
of the sun sent his spirit beyond the shore, but — 

When the gorgeous sun illumined the eastern skies. 
He passed through glory's morning gate, 
And walked in Paradise. 

The realm of death seems an enemy's country to most men, on 
whose shores they are loathly driven by stress of weather; to 
the wise man it is the desired port where he moors his bark 
gladly, as in some quiet haven of the Fortunate Isles; it is the 
golden west into which his sun sinks, and sinking, casts back 
a glory upon the leaden cloud-track which had darkly besieged 
his day. 



[31] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



Mr. President, these are not idle ceremonies. Good 
men live not in vain. We do well to arouse the aspira- 
tion of the rising generation by telling of those who 
served the people faithfully and well, by telling the simple 
and beautiful story of a life well spent, trials and diffi- 
culties overcome, the days and nights of toil and struggle, 
and at last the victory won, the Christian life, the living 
faith, the hope of better life in the great beyond. 

A great, good man has gone forever. His memory will 
be enshrined in our hearts and bring encouragement to 
all who aspire to leadership, who love their country and 
would serve their fellow citizens. 

Let us indulge the hope that when our friend crossed 
the dark river he awoke rejoicing to rest " in that home 
of the soul " which " I fancy but thinly the veil intervenes 
between that fair city and me." 

Beyond the flight of time, 

Beyond this vale of death, 
There surely is some blessed clime 

Where life is not a breath. 



[32] 



Address of Mr. Carter, of Montana 

Mr. President: During this session of Congress the 
Senate has been called upon to suspend its ordinary 
legislative work to an unusual extent to pay tributes of 
respect to the memory of deceased Senators. The hand 
of death has fallen heavily upon the Senate during the 
Sixty-first Congress. 

This day is devoted to the memory of two former 
Members, who were very near and very dear to their 
colleagues — Senator Clay, of Georgia, and Senator Dol- 
liver, of Iowa. Words of commendation spoken for one 
might well be applied to both of these distinguished men. 

My committee relations were such as to bring me into 
intimate association with Senator Clay, and I embrace 
the sad privilege of bearing witness to his blameless life, 
his splendid ability, and his tireless devotion to duty. 
For more than 10 years we served together on the Com- 
mittee on Post OfFices and Post Roads, and for 5 years of 
that time we were associated as members of a joint com- 
mittee of the two Houses charged with the investigation 
of alleged abuses of the second-class mail privilege and 
the proposed reorganization of the Post Office Depart- 
ment and the postal service. That joint committee con- 
sisted of Senators Penrose, Clay, and Carter on the part 
of the Senate, and Representatives Overstreet, Gardner 
(of New Jersey), and Moon (of Tennessee) on the part 
of the House. 

The task assigned was extremely difficult and the labor 
involved correspondingly great. All Senators witnessed 

95298°— 11 3 [33] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



the close attention and the viligant watchfulness of Sen- 
ator Clay in this Chamber, but it was given to the mem- 
bers of the Post Office Committee and the joint committee 
of the two Houses to observe the painstaking care and 
singular devotion of the Senator in dealing with facts, 
figures, and details of which the public at large have little 
or no knowledge. 

The serious work of our legislative body is performed 
by its committees, and this is notably true of the United 
States Senate; and, in turn, the actual work on each com- 
mittee is performed by a minority of its members, the 
majority dealing, as a rule, only with the general prin- 
ciples involved. In the last analysis it falls to the lot of 
one, two, or three members of a committee to take special 
charge of important measures, to master the details, ap- 
prove the phraseology, and determine the constitution- 
ality of the measure before reporting it to the full com- 
mitttee and ultimately to the Senate. 

Alexander S. Clay was one of those possessed of both 
the ability and the inclination to perform this onerous 
kind of service. Although tenacious of his own opin- 
ions, he was always open-minded and tolerant in his 
consideration of the views of others. Always firm but 
never dogmatic, he was both helpful and accommodating. 
Although adhering to his own views with sufficient 
strength to test the policy, the logic, and the wisdom of 
the counter proposition, he was always prepared to ac- 
cept the true and correct view when that view was clearly 
developed. 

Two large volumes stand as monuments to the labor 
of the joint committee on postal rates and postal reoi;- 
ganization, and to the memory of our deceased col- 
league must be placed a full measure of the credit for 
all the committee did in preparing the way for a more 
enlightened and efficient organization for the greatest 



[341 



Address of Mr. Carter, of Montana 



business department connected with any government in 
the world. 

Senator Clay died a victim to what may well be termed 
a mistaken sense of duty. It was apparent to his col- 
leagues in the Chamber that he had overtaxed his 
strength and was jeopardizing his life by refusal to leave 
the post of duty for needed rest. Time and again I urged 
him to withdraw from this field of exacting labor, to re- 
pair to some place where he could secure needed rest and 
exemption from the burdensome duties of his great oflTice. 
He realized the peril, but in tones of touching resignation 
he said, " I know that I should not be here, but I can not 
leave my post." 

I have no doubt that he would be alive to-day had he 
not continued in the Senate throughout the last session of 
Congress. When the vacation came with the adjourn- 
ment his overtaxed constitution had become so weakened 
that recovery was impossible. 

He repaired to his home in the State he loved and 
served so well, and after lingering for a time, surrendered 
his hovering powers of life to the final impulse. 

Like the majority of Members of this body. Senator 
Clay was a product of the farm. From obscurity and 
poverty he reached great distinction and high official 
recognition at the hands of his counti-ymen. In his death 
the State of Georgia suffered a great loss and the Nation 
at large was by that sad event deprived of the services of 
a pure, high-minded, and efficient public servant. 

To those near and dear to our departed colleague we 
can give little in the way of consolation, nor is it neces- 
sary to attempt to console by mere words of mouth, for 
by an honorable career and through duty well and faith- 
fully performed in every relation of life, Alexander S. 
Clay left to his countrymen and to his family not only 
consolation, but cause for rejoicing. 



[35] 



Address of Mr. Bailey, of Texas 

Mr. President: In my time I have known and loved 
many true and noble men, but I never knew and 1 never 
loved a truer or a nobler man than the late Senator 
Clay. He was one of those perfect characters that 
grow on us day after day and shame us for our own 
imperfections. 

It was my privilege, sir, during the last years of his 
service here to sit by his side, and I came to know him 
almost as a brother. I saw the workings of his mind 
and I saw him always striving and eager to know and to 
do the right. During all of my intimate association with 
him I can say of him what 1 would deem a sufficient 
epitaph for my most partial friend to write of me when 
I am gone, and that is, he never acted and he never 
spoke an unworthy deed or thought. 

He was not great in the sense in which some men use 
that word, but he was great according to the best sense 
in which it can be used, because true greatness in this 
world consists in always being right, and not one amongst 
us here erred so seldom as did that splendid man. 

When 1 was younger 1 thought men were only great 
when God had given them such power of speech that 
they could move the multitude to tears and shouts, but, 
sir, 1 have lived long enough to change my mind. So 
often have I seen men gifted with great eloquence speak 
as if they were inspired, and ere the echo of their voices 
had died away, and while the music of their voices was 
still enthralling the audience, I have seen them cast some 
very foolish vote. 

[36] 



Address or Mr. Bailey, ok Texas 



And so I have concluded that the really great man 
in this world is not the one who stirs our souls to their 
profoundest depths, but he is the one who teaches us to 
do what is right; and such a man was Senator Clay. 
Responsive always, here and everywhere, to calls for 
sympathy, he was responsive more to justice. He under- 
stood the distinction, which all public men should cherish, 
between the privilege of a man to do benevolence and 
the duty of a Senator to do justice. His hand was " open 
as day to melting charity " with what belonged to him, 
but when he came to appropriations from the Public 
Treasury he set his face like flint against the waste of 
the people's money. 

Xo man of any generation better deserved the tribute 
which Blaine paid to the southern statesmen of the time 
before the war, when he said that they were liberal and 
even lavish with the money which was their own, but 
they regarded the public money as a trust fund and 
spent it only for the Government's necessities. 

He was a plain man, too, in the sense that every honest 
man beneath the flag of this Republic could approach 
him and petition him for justice. No formalities, even 
in this high station, ever removed him from the people 
whose commission he bore, and 1 have seen the pages 
bring him cards when he was engrossed with some ques- 
tion before the Senate, but whenever there was the name 
of a Georgian written on it he alwaj's answered it in 
person. Promptly and cheerfully, no matter how much 
he was occupied, he answered the call of every man or 
woman who came to the Capitol of this Republic from 
the State which had honored him with a seat in this 
great assembly. 

He was a demagogue, sir, in the older and better sense 
of that word, which implied that he was a leader of the 
people against class and privilege; but he was anything 



[37] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



but a demagogue in the modern sense, which means that 
a man follows rather than leads the people. 

He believed as earnestly as man ever believed before 
him, and as man will ever believe after him, in the intel- 
ligence and in the patriotism of the American people, 
and he never feared to trust their sober judgment for 
his vindication when he believed that he was right. If 
he had one shortcoming as a public man it was his in- 
tense anxiety always to be right. 1 have seen him worry 
even when his fatal illness was on him, and one day I 
said to him, " My friend, you are killing yourself not 
only with work — I doubt if that ever killed any man — 
but you are killing yourself with work and worry." 
" Well," he said — and he said it with the simplicity 
of a child — " I am always afraid that upon these great 
questions I may give a vote that in the years to come 
will work an infinite injury to my people and to my 
country." 

Mr. President, it was difficult to chide a sublime con- 
secration to the public service like that, and I could 
make no answer to liim. He not only professed this 
fear of being wrong, but he lived it, and I saw him 
work until he fell a sacrifice, as the Senator from Mon- 
tana has so well said, to his all-controlling sense of duty. 
Perhaps, after all, that is the most glorious death that 
can come to men. The soldier on the field of battle, 
meeting his death in a furious charge, deserves no 
credit, for, stimulated by the strains of martial music 
and under that strange spell woven around them by the 
cannon's roar, men feel no danger and fear no death. 
But here in civil life, with nothing to stir his blood or 
move his passions, he is brave beyond all description 
who unflinchingly looks death in the face and refuses to 
flee its presence. 



[38] 



Address of Mr. Bailey, of Texas 



Mr. President, many have fallen from these high seats 
into an honored grave; many have left behind them 
friends to mourn and fame to live; but amongst all who 
have gone before us not one went to a more certain 
reward than Alexander Stephens Clay, for if he had one 
faith sublimer than his confidence in his countrymen it 
was his faith in God. He did not proclaim, as so many 
men of less sterling virtues have done, his belief in a state 
to come. He did not stand upon the corners, as the pub- 
licans of old, inviting those who pass to applaud his 
righteousness. But, sir, he died believing in God and 
in the Scriptures, and, like all others who have so died, 
he shall live again. 

Mr. Bacon. I desire to state that my colleague [Mr. 
Terrell] was to have taken part in these exercises to 
pay a tribute to the memory of the late Senator Clay, 
but he is necessarily deprived of that opportunity by 
his personal illness, which has detained him from the 
Chamber. 

Mr. Young. Mr. President, as a further mark of respect 
to the memoiy of Mr. Clay and Mr. Dolliver, I move that 
the Senate do now adjourn. 

The motion was unanimously agreed to, and (at 6 
o'clock p. m.) the Senate adjourned until Monday, Feb- 
ruary' 20, 1911, at 11 o'clock a. m. 



[39] 



Proceedings in the House 

Monday, December 5, 1910. 

Mr. Bartlett of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I offer the fol- 
lowing resolutions, which I send to the Clerk's desk. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Georgia offers the 
following resolutions, which the Clerk will report. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. Alexander Stephens Clay, late a Senator of 
the United States from the State of Georgia. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate, and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 

The resolutions were agreed to. 

January 24, 1911. 

Mr. Lee arose. 

The Speaker. For what purpose does the gentleman 
rise? 

Mr. Lee. To ask unanimous consent to present an order. 

The Speaker. Without objection, the gentleman will 
present for the consideration of the House the following 
order, which the Clerk will read. 

There was no objection. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Ordered, That there be a session of the House at 12 o'clock noon 
Sunday, February 19, 1911, for the delivery of eulogies on the 
life, character, and public services of the Hon. Alexander 
Stephens Clay, late a Senator from the State of Georgia. 

The question was taken, and the order was agreed to. 

[41] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



February 19, 1911. 

The Speaker. The House will be in order. The Chap- 
Iain will offer prayer. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered 
the following prayer : 

Eternal God, our heavenly Father, we tnank Thee for 
that moral sense down deep in the hearts of men which 
inspires admiration and praise for those who have ren- 
dered faithful and efficient service for the public weal 
and promises the final triumph of good over evil. We 
are here to leave on the pages of history the record of 
two such men. It is well, since the work of the faithful 
points the way for those who shall come after them, and 
we bless Tliee that the human heart refuses to believe 
" that the soul which breathes through the intellect wis- 
dom, through the will virtue, through the affections love," 
passes with the death of the body " into nothingness and 
darkness forever." 

Grant that those who were bound to the departed by 
the ties of kinship and love may cherish their memory 
and look forward with imperishable hope to an immortal 
realm where they shall dwell with theni forever. And 
Thine be the praise through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

The Speaker. Under the order the Chair in execution 
of the same will recognize the gentleman from Georgia 
[Mr. Livingston]. 

Mr. Livingston. Mr. Speaker, I offer the resolutions 
which I send to the Clerk's desk. 



[42J 



Proceedings in the House 



The Speaker. The gentleman from Georgia offers the 
following resolutions, which the Clerk will report. 
The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended 
that opportunity may be given for tribute to tlie memory of Hon. 
Alexander S. Clay, late a Member of the Senate from the State 
of Georgia. 

Resolved, That the next adjournment shall be considered a par- 
ticular mark of respect to the memory of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to the 
family of the deceased. 

The question was taken, and the resolutions were 
unanimously agreed to. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Liv- 
ingston] will take the chair. 



[43] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Hardwick, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: Alexander Stephens Clay, late a Senator 
of the United States from the State of Georgia, was one 
of the State's most universally respected and best loved 
sons. 

I do not believe I overstate the facts when I say I know 
of no Georgian, alive or dead, at this or any period of the 
history of the State, who was more universallj' loved in 
life or more deeply mourned in death. 

The people of Georgia loved Senator Clay because he 
loved them. They were true to him because he was 
always true to them. They "delighted to do him honor" 
because they knew that in doing so they honored them- 
selves. 

There were many men in public life who at times made 
a more brilliant showing than our late Senator; there 
were others who seemed better fashioned " the applause 
of listening senates to command," who dazzled the imagi- 
nation and filled the public eye to a greater extent than 
he, but in capacity for hard, useful, fruitful work, for 
constant, continuous, and unremitting toil, in devotion to 
duty and fidelity to the interests of the masses of the 
American people no public man of his time was his 
superior, few his equal. 

Senator Clay had, magnificently developed, at least 
three striking attributes of character without which no 

[44"! 



Addkess of Mr. Hardwick, of (iEorgia 

man can be reckoned either really great or trulj' good; 
without which the words of the most brilliant and accom- 
plished orator are " mere sound and fui-y, signifying 
nothing; '" without which there can be no soliditj' or 
permanence of achievement in any walk of life, public 
or private. 

First. Our late friend was as modest and unassuming 
as a gentle and refined woman. He had none of the 
pomp and pride of place and station about him. He was 
one of the most natural and the least egotistical gentle- 
men it has ever been my good fortune to know. He had 
absolutely no false pride either of opinion or of author- 
ship, and was always ready to accept the proposition of 
another whenever that proposition seemed wiser and bet- 
ter than his own. Any legislator who broadens out this 
much and reaches this stage of mental development has 
become possessed of at least one of the real elements of 
intrinsic greatness and usefulness in legislative service. 

Second. Senator Clay had the most practical, if not the 
only, form of real genius — capacity for hard work and 
the willingness to do it. 

Third. He had a great, unselfish, human heart in his 
breast; a heart full of deep sympathy for the troubles of 
others and keenly responsive to the wail of human suffer- 
ing whenever and wherever heard and however weak its 
whisper; a heart full of charity, even toward those " who 
despitefully used him," and overflowing with love and 
good will to all men. 

Coupled with these admirable qualities of heart, he 
possessed hardly less admirable qualities of head. While 
he never posed and never sought to make a show, he was 
a man of splendid poise, of excellent common sense, and 
of solid attainments. He was a hard student, particu- 
larly in the latter years of his life, when I knew him best 
and was most intimately associated with him, and he had 

[45] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



an extensive range of that most useful knowledge that is 
not learned from books or taught in the schools, but 
comes from actual knowledge of men and practical ac- 
quaintance with affairs. No man's education is complete 
without this post-graduate degree from the great univer- 
sity of life that had conferred its highest degree on our 
late Senator. Withal, he was a careful thinker, a close 
and accurate reasoner, and possessed of at least one other 
striking hall-mark of greatness — he was not only person- 
ally and politically honest, but he was also intellectually 
honest to the core. 

From poverty and through adversity he came, working 
his way upward in genial, friendly, and admirable fash- 
ion. Living and working in the clear light and bright 
sunshine of the Almighty, both his heart and life were 
filled with that light and sunshine. Fidelity to duty, both 
in public life and private station, was the watchword of 
his career. As son, as husband, as father, and as friend 
he was incomparable and unimpeachable. 

Mr. Speaker, this man's simple, honest, up-hill life; his 
steady and unbroken ascent to high place; his absolute 
fidelity to the interests of the people who knew him, 
loved him, and trusted him; his remarkable capacity for 
making and holding friends; his capacity for hard work 
and his willingness to do it; his long, honorable, and use- 
ful career both in Georgia and in the Senate of the United 
States; his untimely death, hastened without doubt by 
his firm refusal to leave his post of duty at the last session 
of this Congress to recuperate his failing health; his bier, 
covered with the beautiful flowers that attested the love 
of a great people, and wet with the tears that were elo- 
quent of their grief, all make up a lesson I can never 
forget — a lesson that every American youth ought to 
learn — a lesson of high purpose and consecrated devotion 
to duty. As I pass in swift mental review over the life 

[46] 



Address of Mr. Hardwick, of Georgia 

and career of my dear, dead friend, I see him a struggling 
youth, of poor but honest parentage; born with no silver 
spoon in his mouth, but with a God-given determina- 
tion in his heart to make something of himself and to be 
of service to his fellows; I can see him struggling through 
as much schooling and as careful preparation for the 
practice of law as his scanty self-earned means would per- 
mit; I can see him as a struggling young lawyer facing his 
older and more experienced brethren at the bar with that 
innate modesty and diffidence that was ever one of his 
chiefest charms, but with final and deserved success. 

I can see him when he first came to our legislature, at 
an early age, as the representative of his dearly loved 
county of Cobb; I can see his influence and power as a 
member of the legislature broadening and growing as 
his genial, open nature won him friends and as his strong 
and trustworthj' character grew upon his associates and 
the public. I can sec him soon elevated to the speaker- 
ship of the house of representatives of our general assem- 
bly. I see him soon transferred, by the vote of his own 
loving people, who never denied him aught or gave him 
grudgingly, from the lower to the upper house, there to 
retain his preeminence as president of the senate. I next 
see him State chairman of the Democratic Party of 
Georgia, leading its hosts with gallanti-y, dash, and 
splendid success in the only real partv' contest the State 
has known since the days of reconstruction. I can see 
him reaping at an early age the highest political reward 
his State and party could bestow, when in 1896 he became 
United States Senator from Georgia. I can see him as he 
stands before the legislature that has honored him, the 
cynosure of every eye, honored and beloved of the peo- 
ple; and I can hear his voice ring out in modest protest 
that he doubts his ability to worthily wear the high honor 
his friends have given him, but in earnest promise to 

[47] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



dedicate himself to dutj' and to unremitting toil for the 
people — a diffidence that the event has shown to be en- 
tirely unfounded, and yet one that did credit to his heart 
and character, and a promise that he religiously kept 
through all the remainder of his days. 

I see him, a Senator of the United States, wearing 
worthily the honor and maintaining without effort the 
dignitj' of liis otlice, and yet remaining plain, honest, 
unaffected, modest, genial " Steve " Clay to his friends 
always; I see him unspoiled by place and as attentive to 
the wishes of his humblest constituent as to those of his 
mightiest; I see him winning the love of the entire Sen- 
ate and of all the Members of this body who had the 
good fortune to come in contact with his open, genial, 
friendly, modest nature; I see him winning and retain- 
ing the respect and high opinion of the Senate and the 
country by his industry and his honesty, his fidelity to 
duty and his sterling common sense, by his earnestness 
and sincerity, and by his lack of all cant and pose. 

I can see him during the very last span of his life in 
Georgia, standing manfully and openly by his conception 
of the State's honor and interest, without regard to or 
fear of any possible consequences to himself. I can see 
him, in this last political battle of his career, as broken 
in health but unbroken in spirit, he unfurled his battle 
flag to Georgia's breezes and disdained to trim his sails 
to catch what seemed to be the passing breeze; I can see 
him when he was bright and clear of eye, robust in health, 
and exuberant in spirits; and I can see him when the 
fateful hand of disease and suffering was laid heavily 
upon him. 

I can see him as he stood in the historic Chamber of 
the mightiest legislative body on earth, battling with all 
the courage of an olden knight for the cause of the poor 
and the oppressed, and I can see him at his fireside, the 



[48] 



Address of Mr. Hardwick, of Georgia 

center of a devoted family circle, the pride of aged 
parents, the strong staff upon which leaned a loving and 
devoted wife, the idol and companion of his children; I 
can see him when he was the very embodiment of life, 
an intensely human, an altogether lovable figure, a man 
with a host of devoted friends, with strong beliefs, with 
earnest convictions, with unfaltering purpose, with un- 
impeachable honesty; and I can see him as he lay cold 
in death in his beloved Marietta home, surrounded by 
his loved ones, mourned by his friends, lamented by a 
great State and country, with his earthly work done, and 
well done — an honest man gone home to meet his God 
and to receive his reward. 

His like we will not soon see again. Peace to his 
ashes, honor to his memory. Fortunate, indeed, will 
each of us be, if, when the final summons comes, the 
friend who says the last words over our remains may 
be able to truthfully pronounce the eulogy I now pro- 
nounce over my dear friend — those who knew him best 
loved him most. 



95298'— 11 4 [49] 



Address of Mr. Burgess, of Texas 

Mr. Speaker : Georgia has furnished many brilliant and 
able men to the service of the Republic, but in my judg- 
ment she has furnished no better man than he to whose 
memory we now pay respect. 

Alexander Stephens Clay did not serve in the House, 
and t)nly those Members who came in contact with him 
knew the real worth of the man. I lived for some years 
at the same hotel with him and knew him intimately, 
and I respected him and loved him as perhaps I respect 
and love no other citizen except in my own State. 

I found him a faithful friend, a man whom anybody 
could meet on equal terms, a man without guile, a man 
without blemish, a man in the very best sense of the 
term. As the speaker who has just preceded me has 
said, if he had one distinguishing characteristic that made 
him stand out above his fellow men, it was his loyalty 
not only to his friends but to evei-y consideration that 
was impelled by conscience. 

Loyalty to friends is a great and rare trait, but loyalty 
to conscience rises above even loyalty to friends. He 
was a man in whose bosom lurked not the shadow of a 
lie. He knew nothing but the truth, and he worshiped 
it all his days. Knowing him and loving him as 1 did, 
it is not surprising to me that he was universally loved 
in his own State. It could not be otherwise, because to 
be thrown in contact with him was to love him; to know 
him was to realize his worth. 

He has gone, and happy will be the man of whom, 
when he comes to go, it can be said, as it is truthfully 

[50] 



Address of Mr. Burgess, of Texas 



said of Clay, he fought a good fight, he finished his 
course, he kept the faith, and henceforth there is laid 
up for him a crown of righteousness in a better world. 

Clay believed profoundly in God, and I am not 
ashamed to proclaim in this presence my faith in God. 
Looking out through the mistj' future, I hope to see the 
day when I shall meet again with this friend who has 
departed to a better world than this. 

After all, life is but a breath. After all, life is but a 
moment, and we are gone. Happy is the man of whom 
it may be said that when his 

Summons comes to join 
The innumerable caravan wliich moves 
To tiiat mysterious realm where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night. 
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 

He has gone. We call it death. Ah, Mr. Speaker, 
there is no death. Beyond this life he lives, and his 
life and the life of all such is a pledge of a future life 
for all men. 



[51] 



Address of Mr. Richardson, of Alabama 

Mr. Speaker: My acquaintance with Senator Clay com- 
menced when I entered Congress in 1900. Our rooms at 
the hotel adjoined each other, and our daily intercourse 
was most intimate and continued so to the day of his 
death. In these cordial relations of friendship between 
us I discovered that the love of truth and simple and plain 
honest}' and justice in all the aflairs of life predominated 
in his character. The reputation of no public man that I 
have ever met was built more certainly and firmly on 
these ennobling features of his life — truth, honesty, and 
love of justice — than that of Alexander Stephens Clay. 
He was not what the world called a brilliant genius, a 
great and electrifying orator. Nor did he ever essay to 
fill such a role, but he was eminently an American states- 
man, possessed of an unerring judgment, a fidelity to 
duty, and a practical knowledge that made him an in- 
valuable public servant. Senator Clay was a grateful 
man. He loved the kindnesses and courtesies that his 
friends so lavishly extended to him. But, Mr. Chairman, 
as much as anyone I ever met he esteemed, loved, and 
cherished the honors that the people of Georgia had con- 
ferred upon him, and for them, and with that splendid 
spirit, he labored in and out of season with a persistence 
and fidelity in the pursuit of their interests that made him 
one of the most successful Members of the United States 
Senate. In his vocabulary duty was the great headlight 
of his life. As he saw his duty, thus he performed it 
boldly, conscientiously, and with a courtesy and kindness 

[52] 



Address of Mr. Richardson, of Alabama 

that endeared him to those who might diifer with him. 
In his composition there was a marked absence of the 
petty envies and jealousies that so often bhir and mark 
the intercourse of pubhc men. Senator Clay loved his 
fellow man. It was a joy to his heart not onlj' to see but 
to help his fellow man advance in the honors of life and 
in the acquisition of blessings that men struggle for. He 
was a tender and kind-hearted man. 

To others of his own State of Georgia it is more appro- 
priate than for me to note and refer to the various posi- 
tions of trust and honor that the people of Georgia so 
generouslj', over a span of years, conferred on him. I 
only can speak of Senator Clay as I knew him as a Sena- 
tor. Senator Clay's life, his success, is a wonderful trib- 
ute to the spirit and glory of our republican institutions. 
From the humble walks of life he came, but its natural 
obstacles, its serious hindrances and discouragements, 
could not deter or divert his invincible spirit. The goal 
of life was before him; the institutions of his country 
opened tlie avenues to him and every man for a fair 
struggle for success. Success — liberal success — was the 
reward of his life in all his efforts. He died at an early 
age, but the record of what he accomplished is the highest 
and best testimony of his useful life, and is justly the 
heritage of the great people of Georgia, who feelingly 
mourn his untimely death. 

Mr. Speaker, sometimes it is unjustly said that the lives 
of public men are so engrossed in their pul)lic duties that 
the sacred ties of home with its endearments are more or 
less benumbed, and that the music of home is not so sweet 
as it once was. It was not so of Senator Clay. In my 
intimacy with him during the frequent private conversa- 
tions I have had with him when his wife and children 
were absent, I recall now with what tender pathos he 
would speak of his home — the true happiness that dwelt 

[53] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



there. He would pass in affectionate review each mem- 
ber of his loved family circle and would always close the 
conversation : " I am so anxious to go home." Mr. Chair- 
man, it has been said that a happy, contented home is a 
simple prototype of the mansion that God has prepared 
for those He loves. Senator Clay was a pure and guile- 
less man — a great man in its true American acceptation — 
and his life, his example, his works are worthy of earnest 
imitation. 



[54] 



Address of Mr. Davis, of Minnesota 

Mr. Speaker: It is most appropriate that this day be 
set aside for the strewing of flowers and garlands to the 
memory of the late Senator Alexander Stephens Clay, 
of Georgia. 

Although he is no longer with us, the memory of his 
life, the spirit of integrity and devotion which domi- 
nated his actions, comes to us to-day, a testimonial to 
the true worth of the man. This is an appropriate time, 
indeed, for those who knew him best to pay tribute to 
the sterling character of the man, his high purpose and 
noble ideals. 

To those who knew him best and shared the closest 
intimacies of his friendship Senator Clay was the lov- 
able man. He was the man who loved best to have his 
friends about him and enjoy the sweet intercourse of 
friendship. Possessed as he was of a rare kindliness of 
heart and a broad humanity, his view of life was always 
charitable and optimistic. This quality of benevolence 
of heart endeared him to all who knew him. The friend- 
ships he made were enduring. 

His loyalty and devotion to his friends under any and 
all circumstances was a marked characteristic of the 
man. Having sprung from the people, realizing in his 
early experiences struggles of life, he loved them and 
they in turn loved him. Coming from the people, he 
understood their wants and he strongly reflected in his 

[55] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



public career the feeling, sentiment, and thought of his 
State on public questions. In a true sense he was their 
representative. He enjoyed a merited popularity, and 
the cause of it was found in the fact that his people 
thoroughly believed in him and had the utmost confi- 
dence in his honesty, integrity, and sincerity. 

In all of Senator Clay's public utterances there rings 
the clear, true note of high purpose and lofty ideals. 
He was ever the defender of the people, following his 
sense of duty as it appeared to him. He denounced 
wrongdoing and upheld right conduct in public affairs 
and legislation with an ability, an ardor, and fervency 
of spirit worthy any patriot or statesman. While he 
was not slow to denounce with clarion voice evil as he 
saw it, his eloquence was never wanting to defend the 
right, to uphold the good. 

This clear-headed, right-minded, and ardent states- 
man of the South, this advocate of the people, uttered 
no false note. There was no hesitancy as to the course 
he was to pursue. Having a clear vision and high pur- 
pose, he was swift to decide on his course of action. 
While a partisan in politics, in thought and in purpose 
he was an independent. His devotion to party never 
dimmed his vision for the highest public service. His 
independence of thought continually asserted itself and 
made its impress upon public legislation. 

During his distinguished services in the United States 
Senate, dating from 1896, up to the time of his death, 
great economic problems confronted the Nation. With 
these questions he was brought face to face. It was a 
period in which much of national legislation was directed 
toward the problems of transportation, commerce, and 
industries. 

It was a period in which there was a marked diversity 
of opinion as to the proper methods of dealing with these 



[56] 



Address of Mr. Davis, of Minnesota 

important questions. Senator Clay brought to the dis- 
cussion of these problems a high sense of duty and an 
earnest and patriotic desire to accomplish the right. 

It was in this connection that his independence of 
thought and action was of special value in the securing 
of legislation of an important nature. In the final 
analy.sis it will be found, I venture to say, that this 
southern statesman has contributed his share toward 
the enactment of legislation of a beneficial character. 

He was an indefatigable worker. Here, again, we find 
his sense of duty asserting itself in long hours of toil and 
constant attention to public duties. Time and time again 
friends advised him to take needed rest, which be refused 
to do, so devoted was he to his constituency and Nation. 
Here was a man loyal to his trust. 

Having been Itorn und raised in the South, he believed 
in the South and her future. Although he grew up amid 
the traditions as well as the sad ruins of the Old South, 
yet in a true sense he belonged to the New South, with 
all of her hopes and aspirations. He typified to a re- 
markable degree that aspiration, self-assertion, and rest- 
less energv' which is now taking possession of her people 
and which will eventually make of this section a new 
land. 

Senator Clay was democratic in the true sense of the 
word. He was ever close to his people and they confided 
in him. It can be truly said that he knew of no alle- 
giance save his allegiance to duty. In him the people 
found a tried, trusted servant, who would betray no con- 
fidence and would not be turned from the straight path 
of duty. His State and Nation lost a valuable servant, 
his people a friend. 

His loss is, indeed, a personal one. It was my privilege 
to know him intimately, and I came to appreciate and to 
hold in high esteem his friendship. The hours spent with 

[57] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



him will be treasured for the kind memories they bring. 
His geniality, his high and lofty spirit, his unswerving 
devotion to duty, his rectitude of purpose, will ever be a 
source of inspiration. 

In all my acquaintance the truth of the maxim that an 
honest man is the noblest work of God was never more 
fully exemplified than in the life and character of Senator 
Clay. 



[58] 



Address of Mr. Brantley, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: Alexander Stephens Clay was not an 
ordinary man. He had all the qualities of mind and 
heart and body that go to make a leader among men. 
In the hush following upon the startling announcement 
of his death last November it was oaly too sadly realized 
that a great man among us had fallen, and in the hearts 
of his people there was erected that day " the broken 
column," emblematic and commemorative of the tow- 
ering figure that had passed out of their lives, but whose 
memoiy would always remain. 

No man can carve his way from obscure privation to 
a seat in the Senate of the United States and hold it 
against all comers for two succeeding terms unless there 
is in him something more of determination, of character, 
and of power than is given to the average man. Not 
only did Senator Clay do this, but the end of his bril- 
liant career to State and Nation was not in sight when a 
Divine Providence commanded that he lay aside all 
earthly labors and honors and enter upon his eternal 
rest. We of the House have set apart this day upon 
which to pay some fitting tribute to his excellent worth 
and to voice the esteem and affection in which we held 
him and the sorrow that is ours over his passing away. 
It is difficult for those of us who knew him and loved 
him in Georgia, as well as here, to properly and fully 
express the greatness of the loss we feel. Its magni- 
tude, personally, socially, politically, and in every other 

[59] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



way is too overwhelming to find expression in any words 
that are at our command. I look back upon the years 
since I first knew him — and more than half the life that 
I have lived is unrolled before me — and his entire pub- 
lic career comes back into view. I see him a new member 
of the Georgia House of Representatives from the county 
of Cobb, and hear again the clear ringing notes of his 
clarion voice as he made his first spcccli. I see him, 
successively, speaker of that body, dignified, courteous, 
and prompt; president of the Georgia Senate, gracing 
that station; chairman of the State Democratic execu- 
tive committee, meeting all the requirements of that 
position; and a United States Senator from Georgia, 
living up to the best traditions of that august body. I 
knew him in all these relations, and now, willi the light 
of his life extinguished and naught remaining of him 
save his imperishable record and undying memorj% I can 
truly say of him that from the day of his entrance into 
public life until the hour when he forever laid down its 
burdens he was the true servant of the people. In my 
service here and at home I have known no man in the 
public service who more than he unreservedly conse- 
crated his tiine, his thoughts, and his talents to the duties 
of his ofiicial station. 

He bore in part a name illustrious in Georgia, and bore 
it so well that new luster and fame has been given to 
that name. 

In Statuary Hall in this Capitol there has been erected 
no statue in honor of the great State of Georgia, but some 
day one of the figures that will there appear will be that 
of Alexander H. Stephens, Georgia's great commoner. 
This Hall has rung with his eloquence, and his impress 
is here, and in the archives of this Government, as it is 
in Georgia and the South. His illustrious name was 
borne bv Senator Clay. 



[60] 



Address ok Mr. Brantley, ok Georgia 

What influence, if any, this name had upon the shap- 
ing of his life it is not for me to speculate upon, but this 
I know, that, like the great commoner, Alexander H. 
Stephens, the heart of Alexander Stephens Clay was 
ever with the toiling, struggling masses, and his hand 
was ever extended for their uplifting. 

His life's record has been made up. There is naught 
we can add to it or lake from it. That record, as it is 
written, shows that Senator Clay ever and always stood 
erect, free, and unshackled to voice the sentiments, the 
hopes, and aspirations of the great body of the peo- 
ple, who looked to him with unfailing trust as their 
spokesman and leader. Neither wealth, nor power, 
nor influence could swerve him from the straight path 
of duty, nor did he ever stoop to mislead or deceive. 

Cruel and wicked assaults upon the purity of his 
motives and the honesty of his purposes are perils to 
which every public man is exposed. Such perils are 
minimized and discounted by such a life as Senator 
Clay gave to the world. His upright character, his lofty 
integrity, and his unflinching and unfaltering devotion 
to duty make the answer to those who for pecuniary or 
selfish ends would undermine and destroy the confidence 
of the people in the men selected to serve them. Senator 
Clay accepted public office as a public trust. Duty was 
his watchword, and I speak within the confines of a well- 
considered opinion when I say that his devotion to duty, 
as he understood and conceived it, hastened the coming 
of his untimely end. 

When stricken with failing health and sore disease, 
friends urged upon him that he forget for the time being 
the cares and responsibilities of his office and, with a mind 
centered only upon regaining health and strength, seek 
some quiet and obscure retreat and try to woo back his 
failing powers. These appeals he turned aside, waiting 

[61] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



an opportunity when duty did not conflict with health. 
It may be that he did not realize the seriousness of his 
condition, or how close a neighbor the black angel of 
death had become; or it may be that he knew these 
things and yet dared remain at the post of duty. Be 
this as it may, he tarried at the post too long, and paid 
the penalty. He died a martjT to duty. 

The allotted life of man was denied him, and at the 
age of 57, when he should have been in the full vigor of a 
strong manhood, he was cut down. We stand aghast at 
the tragedy of life and death, as thus revealed, and we 
moralize upon the vanity and futility of human life, as 
we know it, but in the life of Senator Clay the lesson 
comes home to us that such a life is worth the living. 
It was a clean life — clean and pure and honest. It was 
a life inspired by high ideals and sustained by an 
unfaltering faith in the love and wisdom of a Divine 
Creator. Such a life illumines the pathway for strug- 
gling humanity, and for those who are weaker, points 
the goal of success in life and in death that can be 
reached with a little more courage and a little more 
effort and purpose. When all has been said and done, 
it still remains that the most any man can do is to do his 
duty as God gives him the power to see it, and so it can 
be said of Senator Clay, that he did the most that any 
man could do. 

He brought into his public life the same sincere, open, 
and candid habits of thought and speech and act that 
ever characterized him in private life. His life in public 
and private was an open book, to be read by all men. 
There was in him nothing of subterfuge or deceit or 
strategy. What he was he was, and what he thought he 
said. All men did not at all times agree with all he 
thought, but none questioned his sincerity, and all 
admired his candor, even as they did the courage of 



[62] 



Address of Mr. Brantley, of Georgia 

conviction that was his. It is no small feat for a man to 
live in the white light of publicity for more than a quar- 
ter of a century and have no stain or blot upon his name 
ever discovered or suspected. This was the feat of him 
whose memory we to-day honor, and in honoring which 
we honor ourselves. 

Senator Clay won a high place in the councils of the 
Nation. His opinions were respected, his advice was 
always heard and oftentimes heeded. He more than 
maintained himself in what is popularly called the great- 
est legislative body on earth. His standing there was 
secure, and his influence felt. His colleagues in the 
body where he served, as in this, admired, respected, 
trusted, and loved him. What more can be said of any 
man's service? But marked as was Senator Clay's suc- 
cess here, his greatest success was in winning and holding 
throughout the years the confidence and love of the peo- 
ple who so signally honored him. With them his death 
was a great personal bereavement. Senator Clay' has 
passed into the great beyond which passing is lamented 
beyond expression, but it is " Steve " Clay, the man, 
whom his people miss and mourn. They loved him, not 
because he was a Senator, but because he was a true 
and trusted friend, a loyal and unselfish neighbor, a 
gentle but courageous man. It was because they loved 
him that thej' made him a Senator. I voice their senti- 
ments when I say that in his death Georgia mourns the 
loss of one of her great sons, great because he was a 
manly man, great because on merit alone he won and 
held high place and in it always did his duty, great 
because he loved his God, his country, and his fellow 
man. He came, he was, and now he is no more. We 
rejoice that he came and that we knew him; we mourn 
because in this life we shall know him no more, nor 
soon upon his like look again. 

[63] 



Address of Mr. Adamson, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: The death of Senator Clay was a sad 
blow to his friends and a great loss to his country. His 
lingering illness filled us with apprehension and prepared 
our minds in some measure to expect the announcement 
of the end, but our estimate of his worth was by no means 
decreased thereby, nor our sorrow diminished. He bore 
his long illness with a faith and fortitude surpassing hero- 
ism and nowhere equaled outside of the life trials and 
triumphs of a Christian. Physical courage may animate 
and sustain the hero to rush upon the enemy and brave 
danger in the shock of battle, scorning carnage and death 
raging round, in reality being stimulated thereby to 
greater and loftier daring. Far different is the case of the 
sufferer lingering for years under the ravages of wasting 
disease, knowing he can never recover, but conscious that 
his end is near. With full knowledge he looks the mon- 
ster in the face and defies him to do his worst, realizing 
that duty well done, with obedience and faith in Him who 
triumphed over death for us all, will set at naught the 
dread power of the fell reaper. Senator Clay knew for 
two years that his health was irrevocably gone and that 
his days were numbered, yet he continued cheerful and 
genial. Though his friends importuned him to suspend 
work and prolong his life by rest and treatment, ho stead- 
fastly refused and continued to work. He said that his 
constituents had honored and trusted him, and he must 
continue to serve them as long as his strength permitted; 
that if death must needs come it should find him at his 

[64] 



Address of Mr. Adam son, of Geokuia 

post of duty, and nothing else should remove him there- 
from. He literally worked for his people, even down to 
the hour and article of his death. 

Senator Clay's sickness and death presented a nobler 
spectacle even than that prophesied by the sublime poet, 
who saw — 

" Tlie last of human mold 

That shall Creation's death behold." 

"Amid the wreck of matter and the crash of worlds " 

The Spectacular last " lone one stood 

With dauntless words and high," 

And bade the dying sun, fading 

Into universal destruction and gloom, 

" Go tell the night that hides thy face 

Thou sawest the last of Adam's race 

On earth's sepulchral clod 

The dying universe defy to quench his immortality 

Or shake his trust in God." 

How different the case of Senator Clay. Racked with 
pain, prostrated by an incurable affliction, communing 
only with himself and his God, unstimulated by spectacu- 
lar phenomena or sublime and terrific events, he, patient 
and uncomplaining, conducted his private domestic 
affairs, directed his official business, responded to the de- 
mands of his constituents, ail the while surely, rapidly, 
and consciously approaching his dissolution, yet, relying 
on his Maker and his Savior, he answered his summons 
without a tremor or a fear, and calmly laid his feeble, 
wasted body down to rest, while his spirit, freed from 
pain and care, soared to realms on high to receive the 
glorious reward of the brave and the faithful. 

I knew Senator Clay longer and better than did any 
other Representative or Senator. Our friendship, genu- 
ine and uninterrupted for more than 33 years, did not 
depend upon any accident of fortune, nor was it ever 

95298"— 11 5 [55] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



affected by any exigency of politics. Usually we agreed, 
but when we occasionally differed he manifested his ac- 
curate understanding of the American principle of polit- 
ical liberty by entertaining his own opinion without pro- 
test, anger, or attempted proscription if his comrades 
should act upon their own judgments. That is a rare 
quality, professed much oftener than it is practiced. 
Senator Clay fully exemplified the doctrine in practice. 
If, like him, we could all realize and show forth the doc- 
trine that liberty of opinion means that we can all think 
as we please though we differ in conclusion and action, 
conditions and feelings would be much improved. A 
man who asserts his own liberty of opinion, with the 
reservation or assertion that his neighbor must agree or 
be proscribed, denies his own freedom and impeaches his 
own manhood rather than that of his neighbor. If one is 
free, all are free, and all may think and all may differ, yet 
all be true American patriots striving for the same end — 
true principles and good citizenship. 

I first met Alexander Stephens Clay at Douglas supe- 
rior court in 1877, soon after we had both been admitted 
to the bar. We were both young, hopeful, and poor. 
"Fellow feeling made us wondrous kind." We had no 
idea of ever going to Congress. We did believe, how- 
ever, that we could make as good lawyers as some of 
those we saw making a living at the practice, and we 
tried our best. Conditions were such that we could not 
avoid participating in politics, but not to an extent that 
interfered with our practice of law, though he did in 
turn become a member of both branches of the legisla- 
ture and presided over both with great credit, after- 
wards serving as chairman of the Democratic State 
committee. Twenty years after our admission to the 
bar we both came to Congress, he to the Senate and 1 
to the House. Our friendship of 20 years was not termi- 



[6<3] 



Address of Mr. Adam son, of Georgia 

nated therebj', but became more intimate and intense. 
He was, in the full sense of the word, a working Senator. 
He made few long speeches, but many long friendships. 
He so ingratiated himself into the favor of his associate 
Senators that he could accomplish as much of a personal, 
local, or nonpartisan nature as any other Senator, if not 
more. He was alwajs ready to work and would respond 
with alacrity to any call of duty, night or day. He loved 
his friends, and very few acquaintances were not his 
friends. If I had no other evidence of his goodness here 
and his acceptance on high than his love for his fellow 
man, I would feel warranted in believing that his dis- 
embodied spirit passed from suffering and love of his 
fellow mortals below to the glory and comradeship of 
the blessed above. We are taught that our love for the 
brethren is sufficient evidence that we have passed from 
death unto life. 

If a man saith 1 love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; 
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can 
he love God whom he hath not seen? 

Whosoever sliall give to drink unto one of these little ones a 
cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say 
unto you, he shall in nowise lose his reward. 

Senator Clay did more than give a cup of cold water 
to the thirsty little one. He gave overflowing cups of 
joy to all who knew him. " Verily he went about doing 
good." 

As an American statesman he left an enviable record. 
True to his oath and to the people, he would have been 
true to the people without the oath. He never sanctioned 
oppression, nor did he ever consent to " grind the face of 
the poor " by speech or A^ote. He never helped to en- 
throne might or enrich class to the oppression of the weak 
or the robbery of the masses. He never aided in enacting 

[67] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



class legislation to enable a few to exploit the many nor 
to establish unequal laws permitting men to grow rich 
by compelling their neighbors to pay extortionate prices. 
He lived and loved the doctrine that opportunity should 
be left as free and equal as natural conditions would 
permit and that legislation should never increase in- 
equality for the benefit of special interests to the detri- 
ment and impoverishment of the general public. His 
record was true to the Constitution, the welfare of the 
people, and the cause of righteousness. I offer this sim- 
ple tribute to the memory of a model husband, provi- 
dent father, affectionate, dutiful son, good friend, true 
patriot, able statesman, and Christian gentleman, not in 
the spirit and vernacular of laudation, but in the language 
and fervor of true friendship, prompted by a heart that 
loved and honored him in life and now after his death 
proudly commends his life and record to the youth of 
the land as furnishing an object lesson for study and 
encouragemetit and an example worthy of imitation. 



[68] 



Address of Mr. Hughes, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: It was my pleasure and jo}' to have 
known Senator Clay from his vigorous young manhood to 
the close of his illustrious life. This friendship grew and 
increased with the passing years. He knew I loved him. 

This genial gentleman, whose genius v/on for him a 
place among the foremost statesmen of his day, came 
from that sturdj' stock of southern yeomanry who defy 
all obstacles in the pursuit of laudable ambition. The 
father and mother of this kind, noble, and lovable son still 
live to revere his memory and to look back over his life, 
which has been a beacon light in everj^ hour of their lives. 
His father was a small farmer, accustomed to the ax, 
plow, and hoe. Together with his wife, who was as gen- 
tle as industrious, he faced the stern realities of farm life 
throughout the darkest days of Georgia's rehabilitation, 
when want, devastation, and sorrow hovered over the 
Southland, so impending that hope was deferred and de- 
spair caused many a weaiy soul to yield to the seemingly 
inevitable and sink into an untimely grave. Not so with 
the elder Clay. He met every storm in the vicissitudes of 
life with rigid determination, never despairing, deter- 
mined to conquer for wife, children, and country. The 
mother was, indeed, his helpmeet, for it was she who 
radiated light through every cloud, brightening the rugged 
pathway' of their lives as they moved onward and upward 
to comparative independence and comfort in a modest 
country' home. 

[69] 



JNlEMORiAL Addresses: Senator Clay 



Such were the father and mother of " Steve " Clay, 
who rose to illumine the life of his parents and honor his 
countiy with his goodness and greatness. 

Senator Clay was born and reared on a farm, receiving 
his early education in the country schools and between 
the plow handles. He was ever willing to labor with his 
father in building up the home, and as he grew his dream 
was to lessen every biudeu of father and mother. As he 
could be spared from the farm he was sent to the near-by 
schools, for his parents were determined to lay the foun- 
dation upon which he could build a higher education 
through his own efforts — a wise provision of which he 
took advantage later in life. 

By indefatigable energj^ and determination Mr. Clay 
won in the great battles of life, leaving an object lesson to 
every determined boy which inspires regardless of pov- 
erty and adverse surroundings. 

Having performed every kind of farm labor, young 
Clay knew the meaning of hard work, economy, and sac- 
rifice. His struggle on the farm implanted in his very 
soul the fact that diligent labor was the factor which 
pointed to success in any field which he might enter, and 
his success in his first work on the farm aroused a desire 
for greater achievements and broader fields. While still 
a young man, and just after he had graduated from 
Hiawassee College, he taught school and studied law dur- 
ing his leisure moments, being admitted to the bar in 1877. 
His earnestness, his application, his devotion to duty in 
this profession not only attracted attention but clients, 
and the young attorney rapidly attained a position of 
prominence in the State as one of its ablest lawyers. In 
this profession he won distinction. 

He entered politics with the same zeal that character- 
ized his progress and successful attainments on the farm 
and at the bar. After a short service in the House of 



Address of Mr. Hughes, of Georgia 



Representatives of Georgia lie was elected speaker of 
that body, stamping himself as a master of parliamentarj- 
law; and his adherence to justice in his rulings increased 
his popularity, the popularity that had made him a great 
favorite and a leader in Georgia politics. He left the 
house to accept a term in the State senate, and served 
with great distinction as its president, displaying his same 
wonderful knowledge of parliamentary practice and pro- 
cedure. At this time it was predicted that he would, ere 
long, occupj' the gubernatorial chair, but, instead, he was 
soon elected to the United States Senate, in which body he 
was conspicuous; and his service there so endeared him 
to the people of his native State that he was elected to the 
second and third terms without opposition. Mr. Clay's 
political life was untarnished; he was true to principle 
and there was no power which could swerve him from it. 
His life is emblematic of all that is pure and noble, a herit- 
age more precious than gold, which is handed down to the 
young men of Georgia and of this Union as an example 
worthy of emulation, as a star of hope to those striving 
for success, honor, and renown. 

Senator Clay was filled with faith, hope, and charity. 
He had faith in his God, his country, and his fellow man, 
and that faith was made more beautiful by hope, which 
was as bright as the midday sun, dispelling every passing 
cloud, radiating its glory to his fellow man, leaving in- 
spiration wheresoever the rays might fall. But his great- 
est trait was charity, which made him good as w-ell as 
great. It permeated his every purpose in life. He saw 
the good in mankind, and under his cheering smile and 
heartfelt encouragement many have overcome great 
obstacles and conquered despair. 

He was firm as Gibraltar in his convictions, which 
were only reached after careful and painstaking investi- 
gation. He was immovable when he felt he was right. 



[71] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



He was broad and readily recognized the rights of others, 
even though they were opposed to his interest. He was 
powerful in debate and spoke with the force of a logi- 
cian — so often destructive to his opponents. He used 
argument, not coercion. He was as persuasive as he was 
logical and never left a scar intentionally. His lan- 
guage was never of doubtful construction, but he did 
not sting with invective in order to place in the Record 
remarks attractive only for vitriolic effect — so common 
to many whose leading traits in speaking are bitterness 
instead of logic tempered with justice, the weapon of a 
statesman in debate. 

He knew, regardless of all the nobility and goodness 
in man, that still he was not perfect; that it was not 
given to human beings to be without faults. But he 
looked upon these faults with a loving and forgiving 
heart, and it was his wont to minimize them. 

There was never a new Member of the House who, 
when he met Senator Clay, was not drawn to and 
attracted by him. He realized that which has not 
occurred to some Members, that new Representatives 
deserved consideration and aid instead of indifference 
when entering upon their new duties. Older Members 
are prone to forget that their knowledge was largely 
acquired through the school of experience, and do not 
lend a helping hand to new Members. But it was not 
so with Senator Clay. One of his greatest pleasures was 
to lend a helping hand, and his kind heart would cause 
him to go to the rescue of a friend long before his aid 
was asked. 

Such a man, whether born in a mansion or humble cot- 
tage, lives great and dies great. Such a man was Clay. 

In his home life "beauty walked hand in hand with 
duty." He was ever a dutiful son, an indulgent, loving 
father, a faithful husband. 



[72] 



Address of Mr. Hughes, of Georgia 



I attended the last sad rites paid to this distinguished 
Georgian at Mai'ietta, Ga., his home, where he was known 
best and loved most. Here his friends gathered, sharing 
the grief of his loved ones as he was placed in his last 
earthly resting place, amid wreaths of flowers. These 
emblems of purity were tokens of love and the tears in 
every eye were the response of bleeding hearts. 



[73J 



Address of Mr. Bell, of Georgl\ 

Mr. Speaker: It was my privilege and pleasure to have 
been personally acquainted with the late Senator Alex- 
ander S. Clay, of Georgia. Since my first knowledge of 
him I was convinced that he possessed many noble 
virtues and characteristics, and during my acquaintance 
with him, covering a period of more than 20 years, noth- 
ing ever occurred to convince me in anj' degree that he 
was not a conscientious, noble, true, and patriotic south- 
ern gentleman. He was a man of strong convictions, 
yet liberal and generous. While cherishing his own con- 
victions, he was broad and well balanced and conceded 
to every man the right of his own views and decisions, 
if at all in keeping with any sort of fairness or justice. 
He was a plain, unpretentious man, but forceful and 
intelligent. He was generous to a fault, and no needy 
person, so far as my knowledge of the man goes, ever 
left his door except believing in his lieart that " Steve " 
Clay, as he was affectionately called, was a real friend 
to his less fortunate brother. He was a lawyer of great 
ability, was successful as an attorney, as a business man, 
and as a legislator in his State as well as in the councils 
of the Nation. His achievements in politics were due 
to his indomitable energy and perseverance, coupled 
with his faithfulness to his friends wherever found. I 
was alwaj^s glad to have his friendship, because it was 
not that of an ordinary man, but one of force, power, 
and devotion. While he never lost sight of the fact that 
he was a United States Senator and always sustained 
himself in the estimation of his fellow Senators, he was 
likewise the active representative of the individual citi- 
zen residing within the borders of his own Common- 

174] 



Address of Mr. Bell, of Georgl\ 



wealth, and he could always be depended upon to watch 
and protect the interests of those who appealed to him 
for aid. He was an intense man. There was that about 
him which drew to him the regard of men. In the line 
of his official duty concerning his people, their wants 
and wishes, he served them with a fidelity as unswerving 
as (iibraltar's rock. So much might be said of this manly 
man and of his life, which was so full of kind thoughts 
and good deeds, but what more need be said when we 
can safely saj' of him that he was true to himself, his 
country, his family, and his God. One of the most beauti- 
ful traits in Senator Clay's life and character was his 
loving devotion to his wife and children. He always 
confided in me, and I knew of some of his trials and 
vicissitudes, and he alwaj's spoke so tenderlj^ of the wife 
of his bosom and of his boys, for whom he was so much 
concerned. He said to me on more than one occasion 
that his greatest object in life was to set a good example 
for his children and leave such footprints on the sands 
of time that his children might point to him with pride 
as their father and protector. 

It was mj' privilege to attend the last sad rites of this 
good citizen and friend, and my heart was touched when 
the great throng of anxious people filled the large church 
to overflowing long before the hour of his funeral and to 
witness the beautiful floral offerings which bore eloquent 
testimonj' of the love and esteem in which he was held 
in his home city. This statesman, husband, father, 
friend, is gone from us, but his influence remains. The 
recollection of his goodness and tenderness will always 
be a light to lead and guide us to a higher and better 
life in this world and remind us that there is a better 
life beyond the grave, for the good and faithful are not 
only promised the life that now is, but that which is to 
come. 



[75] 



Address of Mr. Cullop, of. Indiana 

Mr. Speaker: Alexander Stephens Clay, late a Senator 
of the United States from the State of Georgia, was born 
September 25, 1853, and died November 13, 1910. 

During the period contained within said dates his life's 
work will be found, and we pause a little while here to- 
day from the dailj' routine to review and consider his 
service to his State, his people, and his country, as a 
tribute to his memory. 

With him the door of opportunity is now closed to 
change, alter, or renew his career, and to a generous 
public it is now submitted for judgment upon the work 
performed, the results accomplished, and the influence he 
exerted, with the fond hope that it will be approved by 
the verdict of his countrymen. 

Senator Clay was born and reared to manhood in 
Georgia amidst turbulent scenes and impressive environ- 
ments enacted in his State. It was during that age of life 
when incidents irrevocably fix their imprint upon the 
memorj' of individuals; it was during a period freighted 
with revolution, which disturbed both domestic and pub- 
lic institutions and formed and fashioned a new order of 
public affairs. 

When the Civil War broke out he was of sufTicient age 
to understand its awful consequences, and bear witness to 
its destruction of both life and property, its obstruction to 
both domestic and civil progress, and its paralyzation of 
all material development. 

Georgia, his native State, was blessed with a great store- 
house of natural wealth, abounding in mineral resources, 

[76] 



Address of Mr. Cullop, of Indiana 



attaining advanced development, a rich fertile soil in a 
high state of cultivation, producing enormously, divided 
into fine farms and large plantations, containing cities of 
thrift and enterprise, diversified manufactories, turning 
out annually vast cargoes of finished products, entering 
all the commercial marts of the civilized world, yielding 
enormous returns in profits on the investments of her 
people, blessed with a State government with a low tax 
rale and without a single dollar of bonded indebtedness 
as a result of the wise and prudent administration of its 
public officials. All these he learned as a boy around his 
father's hearthstone, where public questions were dis- 
cussed and parental instruction diffused in the family 
circle. 

He saw the great transformation of all these beneficent 
public policies which had been instituted bj' the patriotic 
influences of his revolutionary sires, who learned their 
lessons in public duty around the camp fires of the Revo- 
lutionary War as colonial soldiers, fighting for the cause 
of human liberty. He saw all this changed by the cruel 
fate of war, until the fertile fields were laid waste and 
the fine plantations destroj'ed, and both become the 
camping grounds, battle fields, and burial places of hos- 
tile armies contending in deadly strife. He saw the 
beautiful homes of her people burned, their improve- 
ments destroyed, and their occupants scattered, the thriv- 
ing industries of her cities paralyzed, their productions 
cease, and these hives of human industry become the 
rendezvous of idleness and vagrancy, the development 
of her natural resources stopped, her mines and quarries 
cease production, and her commerce fade from existence, 
her towns and cities reduced to ashes, her wealth, the 
product of nearly a century's toil, economy, and business 
sagacity, dissipated; her internal improvements, sources 
of great public profit, constructed through the wisdom of 

[77] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



her statesmen, crippled and become burdens on the 
people, bankruptcy installed through the corruption, ex- 
travagance, and improvidence of her State officials in 
the administration of her State affairs, and deficit take 
the place of surplus in her public treasury. 

He saw the nominal taxation of property', which had 
been ample to support her State government, displaced 
and in its place a tax levy enforced which amounted to 
confiscation to defray the public expenditures of her 
imported carpetbag government, which administered her 
public affairs and despoiled her credit. He saw a gov- 
ernment without debt converted into one with a public 
indebtedness which equaled the entii-e cash valuation of 
all the property within the State subject to taxation for 
public purposes. 

He saw, under the reconstruction of her State govern- 
ment after the war, the remnant of property' not de- 
stroyed by the ravages of war confiscated by unscrupu- 
lous officials holding the public offices and directing her 
legislation for the purposes of spoliation, through pil- 
lage and plunder for selfish gains multiplj' the burdens 
of an already exhausted people oppressed beyond en- 
durance; the high standing of the once proud State 
changed from its famous position and placed on the 
verge of repudiation and financial dishonor. 

For more than 12 years of his early life, during its 
formative period, he witnessed this transformation, this 
interval of hardship and of public and private disaster, 
all of which was indelibly written on his memory. 
Reared to manhood under such circumstances and amidst 
such troublous scenes, educated in this disastrous school 
of experience, well fitted him for public oltice, for service 
in the interest of the citizens whose representative he 
became, and whose duty it was to serve for the restoration 
of their rights and the advancement of the public wel- 



[78] 



Address of Mk. Cullop, of Indiana 



fare. It qualified him, as no other experience could have 
done, to faithfully execute the trust a confiding con- 
stituency intrusted to him, and it seemed the ever- 
pressing desire which actuated him in his public career 
was to keep inviolate this purpose. 

When he arrived at the full estate of manhood, blessed 
with a dauntless courage, a rigid determination to do 
right — essential and indispensable qualifications for a 
public servant — he was called to the legislature of his 
State to serve for 10 years to aid in restoring good govern- 
ment to its people, reorganizing it on a high plane, that 
it might redeem its imperiled credit, reestablish public 
confidence, and inaugurate for it a prosperous condition 
which it was so well fitted by nature to enjoy. This work 
he so well performed, this duty he so satisfactorily dis- 
charged, that the people of that State thrice elected him 
to a seat in the United States Senate as a reward. What 
better approval, what higher commendation for public 
service could anj' man desire? 

As an illusti'ation of his purpose, I might add a single 
instance, characteristic of the man and his regard for 
public duty, which came under my own observation. I 
met Senator Clay upon my entrance to the Sixty-first 
Congress at the beginning of the special session. We 
lived at the same hotel, and were daily thrown together. 
During the consideration of the Payne bill by the Senate 
we met one evening, and while discussing the events of 
the day, with much emphasis, referring to a certain 
schedule which had been considered by the Senate that 
day, he said : " Cullop, I voted wrong to-day on that 
schedule; it was against the interests of the people of this 
country and for the great material benefit of an inter- 
ested few. I did not know it at the time. I have learned 
the fact since adjournment. To-morrow I shall have an 
opportunity to correct that vote, and I shall do it." 



[79] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



When the morrow came he did correct it and voted 
his convictions. Here was an evidence of the effect of 
the wonderful training and experience through which lie 
had passed bearing its beneficial results on the man who 
had seen the effects and tasted the hardships which the 
betrayal of official duty and honor have upon the peo- 
ple. He knew what official misconduct meant and the 
injury it could inflict upon a helpless people, and for 
this reason he could not tolerate it or permit it whenever 
he could prevent it. 

The example is worthy of emulation and proclaims 
him worthy of the confidence the people of his State 
reposed in him and the high estimation he maintained 
for them as a reward for their partiality for him. Faith- 
ful in public life, whatever the station he occupied, 
whether in the council of his home city, the legislative 
halls of his native State, or in the Senate of the United 
States, the greatest lawmaking body in the world, he 
erected to his memory a monument more enduring than 
any that could be built of marble or brass, which the 
cycles of time crumble to dust, while the other will exist 
so long as people cherish faithful service as a virtue of 
great moment in the discharge of official duties. 

Life has its ending, men come and go, they perish from 
the earth and their places are rapidly taken in the surg- 
ing scenes daily enacted around us; but the work of a 
man, faithfullj' performed, for the betterment of the 
people of a great nation, for the uplift of humanity, for 
the elevation of a nation's ideals, for the advancement 
of its progress, lives on and redounds to the glory and 
advancement of a civilization which can never stand 
still but must ever move forward or it is doomed. His 
efforts were expended to aid its progress and accentuate 
the diffusion of its blessings among a people who are 
destined to lead the march of the nations of the earth in 



[80] 



Address of Mr. Cullop, of Indiana 



every effort to attain a higher destiny and a more perfect 
Government — a nation whose benefits should, like the 
rains from heaven, descend for the nourishment of all 
alike, and invigorate the poor that they may be able to 
cope with the great, and that its legislation should be so 
wise and just that it will strengthen the weak and grant 
no special advantages to the strong. With him life's 
work is ended; to it he can not add a cubit or take from 
it an atom. It is a finished volume, on the pages of which 
will be found inspiration for the young who are entering 
its portals, striving to attain a place in the public eye for 
the purpose of advancing the great cause of improved 
conditions for the human race. 

Pause but for a moment and review the period cover- 
ing the 57 j'ears of his life — a period that has no parallel 
in all the history of the world. No like period of re- 
corded time witnessed such a transforination, such an 
evolution in every department of life. Human agency 
never before made such development or human ingenuity 
witnessed such discovery; the brain and muscle of man 
were never so productive. To repeat its progress would 
be only a narrative of its wonderful achievements, and a 
comparison with anj-^ other similar period of time would 
only emphasize its glorious and wonderful results. 

Considering this great historical fact, coupled with the 
troublous scenes he had witnessed, the hardships he had 
encountered at the outset of his career because of his loca- 
tion in the storm center of the Civil War, where battle and 
bivouac were all about him, we find ample reason for his 
ambition to support and aid in the wholesome adminis- 
tration of public affairs and the betterment of his people, 
a most laudable purpose and a virtue worthy of praise. 

Like a tall and mighty oak in the great forest he has 
fallen to rise no more; from the shifting scenes in the 
panorama of life he has passed forever, but the work he 



95298°— 11 6 [81] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



performed, the example he left, will remain as the herit- 
age he bequeathed to posterity; and an admiring constit- 
uency, which conferred upon him the highest honors 
within its gift, will extol his work, praise his virtues, and 
einulate his example, that the rising generations may take 
courage and redouble their efforts in scaling the imperial 
heights in order to gain fame and attain an enviable posi- 
tion in the never-ceasing struggle of mankind for a higher 
and better destiny. 

Every worthy life, it matters not how humble or how 
great, that goes out on the boundless ocean of eternity 
leaves some work done, some act performed, some word 
said which constitutes a shrine around which faithful and 
devoted friends weave a wreath of affection and on which 
they lay a garland of glory as an evidence of appreciation 
and as a token of grief that the world may know that the 
work of a man lives after he has gone from among men 
and that mortality is succeeded by immortality; that we 
do not live in vain; that death is not the end. 

In the soil of his native State he sleeps in the everlast- 
ing embrace of death, to wake no more. Surrounded by 
tlie friends of his lifetime, who enjoyed his victorious 
march to honorable station, who mourn his untimely 
death, who will ever cherish his memory, emphasize his 
virtues, and hold sacred his public services as a rich 
legacy of priceless value, devised as a heritage to his peo- 
ple and his State, for the inspiration of both to strive for 
higher ideals in public service and better standards of 
government, for the advancement of evei-y good and 
noble purpose as the best and safest plan for the perpetu- 
ation of free government for a great and mighty people in 
a great and mighty country. 



[82] 



Address of Mr. Lee, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: The very wide disparity between the halt- 
ing and feeble expression that I am able to give my feel- 
ings on this occasion, and the depth and bitterness of the 
loss and sorrow that the death of mj' friend has brought 
me, render the sad duty of to-daj' doubly depressing. 

From the very beginning of my service he was a father 
and a brother in one to me. Wise, kind, gentle, and pa- 
tient, he was in very truth a godfather to me in the years 
of my inexperience, and a safe and prudent counselor 
always. Our friendship and intimacy knew no interrup- 
tion until the unsparing hand of death ended it forever. 

It is a comforting thought now to mc that I did not wait 
till his great' heart and brain were cold in death to ac- 
knowledge my obligation and gratitude to him. His sev- 
eral illnesses and long feebleness in the latter j'ears of his 
life gave his friends warning and opportunity to show 
their deep and warm attachment. His ej'es closed on 
earthly scenes with a more gratifying realization than 
comes to most of men — of the high regard in which he 
was held by friends and associates. 

Mr. Clay's public life was not mctcoi'ic; on the con- 
trary, his career shines with the steady light of a fixed 
star. Like hundreds of our public men who rose to emi- 
nence, he was born on the farm and his early education 
was had in the public schools of his native county. 
Already in the days of his youth he was distinguished by 
patient and intelligent application to all allotted tasks. 
If he did not grasp subjects of study at a glance, he no 

[831 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



less surely encompassed all its essentials, even all its 
details, by persistent delving, and this valuable quality of 
persistent, insistent investigation characterized every- 
thing he undertook after he had grown to man's estate. 

In due time he came to the bar and in his chosen pro- 
fession soon gained the respect and admiration of his fel- 
low practitioners, who could not fail to recognize his para- 
mount ability and his many lovable and engaging traits 
of character. His people, estimating his uprightness and 
ability at their true value, successively sent him to the 
city council, to the general assembly, and to the State sen- 
ate. In the assembly he was made speaker; in the State 
senate he became president. These were large honors 
and he wore them well. His decisions as presiding officer 
were models alike of fairness and of clearness. He made 
great impress upon the laws of Georgia. Finally, there 
came to him the highest honor his Stale could bestow — 
his elevation to the Senate of the United States — and from 
his first election in 1896 to the day of his death there was 
no man in Georgia to doubt the wisdom of retaining him 
in that place just as long as he would be willing to serve. 

His first election to the Senate of the United States was 
the only contest he ever had to make for that high station 
in the public service. The " recall " would have had no 
terrors for him had it been operative in Georgia. His 
chief concern was to discharge faithfully his duly as he 
saw it; his chief pleasure to be helpful and kind to family 
and friends. The knowledge and abundant evidence I 
have had that he included me among the latter is a most 
pleasing reflection. He died in the harness; for years 
his waning health and strength warned him to desist from 
his labors, but he would not. The unyielding persever- 
ance of his whole life upheld him; the flesh might be 
weak, but the spirit was strong. And thus he fought the 
good fight to the very end. 



[84] 



Address ok Mr. Lee, (if Georgia 



Mr. Clay's senatorial career is marked by that un- 
swerving adherence to the precepts of honesty and fair 
dealing to which 1 have already referred. For him 
there was ever but one line of conduct — that which was 
dictated by right and equity. From that line he never 
deviated. 

In the Senate, as elsewhere, he gave scrupulous atten- 
tion to all his duties. He served on four of the most 
important committees — Claims, Commerce, Post Oflices 
and Post Roads, and Public Buildings and Grounds. On 
each and all of these he did his full share of work, and 
his reports on any bill assigned to him were always 
luminous and exhaustive of the subject. Having ever 
in mind the welfare of the counti-y, yet he did not fail 
to have due regard for the interests of his State and its 
people, and it was due to his watchful care no less than 
to his ability in conciliating opposing or conflicting views 
that many questions relating to the cities of Georgia and 
to her rivers and harbors were treated with liberal con- 
sideration in the Senate. 

Almost from the very day of his appearance in the 
Senate he took an active part in the discussion of all 
important measures. It can be safely asserted, 1 think, 
that in this respect he was equaled by few of his col- 
leagues and excelled by none. Without the witchery of 
highest eloquence, yet he rarely failed to impress his 
audience, even those whose views and opinions differed 
from his, by the patent honesty of his convictions, the 
clearness of his statements, the exhaustive treatment of 
every phase of the matter in debate. His uniform 
courtesy was notable. Never in all the discussions in 
which he took part did a word escape his lips that bore 
the sting of bitterness, nor was he ever guilty of insinua- 
tions against or aspersions upon the motives of those 
opposed to him. Thus it happened that he was always 



[85] 



.Mi:.MOKiAi. Ai)i)KEs.si;s: Senator Clay 



sure of a respectful hearing, no matter what might be 
his attitude upon any question at issue. 

To recount even partly the important subjects in the 
discussion of which he participated would be to call the 
roll of all the great debates in the Senate while he was 
there. I shall content myself with naming but a few, 
such as the annexation of Hawaii, civil government for 
the Filipinos, the Philippine tariff, the Railway Mail 
Service, ship subsidies, tlie railroad rate bill, the codifica- 
tion of the penal laws, emergency currency, liability of 
common carriers to their employees, postal savings 
banks, the establishment of a Court of Commerce, and, 
above all, tlie intricate questions of tariff legislation. In 
respect of the last named of these his great speech against 
the Sugar Trust, wherein he showed up in glaring colors 
the iniquities of that corporation, stands out in bold 
relief. It was the ablest indictment framed in the public 
forum against that organization. 

Senator Clay's voice never faltered in proclaiming 
truth nor in denouncing falsehood. For him there never 
was, never could be, any compromise between that which 
was right and that whicli was merely expedient. " We 
will never desert principle, even to obtain victory," was 
his proclamation in one of his speeches against ship 
subsidy. He was loyal to his Government as he was to 
his party, whicli to him stood, to use his own words — 

for absolute justice, equality of rights, economical and honest 
government, and equal opportunities for all men under and before 
the l;nv. 

But tlie time allotted me will not allow elaboration or 
even mention of the long list of great services rendered 
his State and Nation by the pure-hearted Georgian. Mine 
is the simple duty and privilege of laying a chaplet of 
friendship and love upon the bier of a noble and unselfish 

[86] 



Address of Mr. Lee, of Georgia 



friend. Senator Clay's character may well be epitomized 
in the words of one whom he quoted in one of his speeches 
in the Senate: 

The end of all worthy struggle is to establish morality as the 
basis of individual and national life, to make righteousness pre- 
vail, to make justice reign, to spread beauty, gentleness, wisdom, 
and peace; to widen opportunity, to increase good will, to move 
in the light of higher thoughts and larger hopes, to encourage 
science and art, to foster industry and thrift, education and cul- 
ture, reverence and obedience, purity and love, honesty, sobriety, 
and disinterested devotion to the common good — this is the 
patriot's aim, this his ideal. 



[87] 



Address of Mr. Edwards, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker : Occasions like this always mark sad days 
in recording the proceedings of Congress, and to ine this 
is particularly a sad one. 

We are here to pay this last tribute of respect to the 
enduring memory of one who was in close fellowship 
with all of his colleagues in both the Senate and the 
House; to the memory of one who was admired and 
honored by thousands and beloved by all who knew him 
well. To know such a man as we eulogize to-day is not 
only to honor and admire him, but it is literally to love 
him for the countless and beautiful traits of his noble 
character and for the genuine big heartcdness that was 
an unalterable part of him. 

I have listened closely to the eloquent and touching 
tributes reverently offered here to-day, and at times, in 
my mind's eye, I have again seen, so plainly, the tall 
impressive form and the sad but kindly face of my 
departed friend that I have almost been moved to speak 
to him, even though I know his ears are forever sealed 
in death to human voices. So lifelike is the mental pic- 
ture I have of him to-day that I can almost see his firm 
and evenly shaped lips move in speech, as if to give 
utterance to some lofty argument in defense of the rights 
of the people, whose champion he always was; or as if 
to speak some v/ord of cheer or of comfort, as if to speak 
good and not evil, as was his invariable custom. The 
mental pictui-e of such a man and the historj' of such a 
spotless life is an inspiration to all those who have it 
hung among the other great pictures on memory's wall, 

LS8] 



Address of Mr. Edwards, of Georgia 

Great men are not made. Environment has a great 
deal to do with making a man, but truly great men are 
born and not made. A great spirit was torn into this 
world, on a farm in Cobb County, Ga., on the 25th day 
of September, 1853, and that was the late Senator Alex- 
ander Stephens Clay, to whose imperishable and loving 
memory we offer our tender tributes to-day. 

From a farmer boy, after the completion of his edu- 
cation at Hiawassee College, he became a school-teacher 
and engaged for a short while in the noble work of 
training the minds of the young. He studied law, was 
admitted to the bar in 1877, and was an active prac- 
titioner of his chosen profession for many years. His 
worth was soon known by his people. He was elected 
and served as a member of the city council in Marietta, 
Ga., and then thrice elected and served in the house of 
representatives from Cobb County, the county of his 
birth, in the halls of the Georgia Legislature, in the last 
term of which service he was elected speaker of the 
house, in which position he acquitted himself with great 
credit. True to the people, meriting and holding the 
respect and confidence of his fellows, with his worth as 
a public servant more apparent than ever, he was elected 
to the State senate, and was chosen and served as presi- 
dent of that body, gathering about him increased fame 
and greater honors in the fearless and able discharge of 
his duties in that exalted position. That he was a great 
and true Democrat was evidenced by the early recogni- 
tion given him as such in his promotion, in 1894, to the 
high position as chairman of the State Democratic execu- 
tive committee, in which place he also proved himself 
worthy. 

There were even greater things in store for this boy 
from the Cobb County farm. He had in this time firmly 
impressed himself upon the people not only of his count>' 

[89] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



and senatorial district, but upon the people of the whole 
State, and the eyes of all Georgia were turned upon 
" Steve " Clay, as he was affectionately known. So 
when a vacancy occurred he was elected, in 1896, to the 
United States Senate, to succeed Gen. John B. Gordon, 
where he served the people of the Nation with fidelity 
and signal ability until he was called to a higher office 
in the great beyond. So we see him, a boy on the farm, 
then a school-teacher, then an earnest advocate at the 
bar, then a representative in the State legislature, then 
as speaker of the house, then in the State senate, then 
as president of the senate, then at the head of the domi- 
nant political part}' in Georgia, and lastly in the United 
States Senate. 

What an inspiration such a career should be to the boys 
of his State, as they behold the success of this great states- 
man, as step by step he rose, with his face ever toward 
the goal of his ambition, to the highest office in the gift of 
his fellow Georgians. 

That he was a great lawyer, a great man, a great politi- 
cian, and a great statesman no man will deny. Yea, he 
was all of this and more, but his greatness did not lie in 
these alone. He was great in the simplicity of his man- 
ner and in the sweetness and gentleness of his tender, 
brave, and courageous heart. He was warm-hearted and 
sympathetic, ever ready to listen and to aid. He was a 
tireless worker and was ever ready to respond to the re- 
quests of his friends when it was in his power to help 
them. He was a slave to duty, and through his great 
energy he was able to accomplish much. Like the great 
commoner, Alexander Stephens, for whom he was named, 
he was a man of the people, and gave his life in the 
service of the people whom he loved and who loved him 
and of his country, to which he was devoted and truly 
patriotic. 

[90] 



Address ok Mr. Edwards, of Georgia 

His death, while expected on account of his ill-health 
for several months, was nevertheless untimely and sad, 
and ended the masterful labors of one of Georgia's most 
beloved and greatest sons and the career of one of the 
Nation's greatest statesmen. 

Let us therefore tenderly cherish his memory and 
emulate the virtues of his splendid career in private and 
public life. 

While he was called hence before he was an old man, 
3'et if life is measured by what men do and accomplish 
he had both lived long and wrought well. I am sure he 
passed to his Creator without a complaint or a regret, for 
he obeyed in the letter and the spirit the invocation — 

So live, that when thy summons conies to join 
The innumerable caravan which moves 
To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 



[91] 



Address of Mr. Burnett, of Alabama 

Mr. Speaker: Alexander Stephens Clay was born a 
little more than seven years before the dark war clouds 
broke over our beloved South. There were only four 
months' difference in his age and mine. We were both 
reared amid the mountains and valleys of that section of 
the South where wreck and ruin were wrought by both 
armies during the last two years of that Titanic conflict. 
To the women and children in country homes the hor- 
rors of war in that unfortunate section bore with hardest 
and harshest rigor. 

Senator Clay's family were people in humble life, 
and to such the gaunt visage of want often appeared 
while the booming cannons and roaring musketry were 
heard on every hand. Along the route of the armies, 
both in Alabama and Georgia, many lone chimneys 
attested the truth uttered by Gen. Sherman, that war 
indeed is hell. 

Amid such scenes as these the youthful Clay was 
seasoned for the hard race that lay out before him. To 
the southern country boy of those days the only oppor- 
tunity for acquiring an education was during the two 
months of Julj' and August, between laying-by time and 
fodder pulling and sorghum making. Thousands of the 
brave men who had gone forth in the heyday of youth 
beneath the Stars and Bars to follow the lead of Lee 
and Johnston and Gordon had found a soldier's grave 
among the mountains of Tennessee and the valleys of 
Virginia. 

Upon the youths at home rested to a great extent the 
arduous duties of making bread for the widows and 
children of those who gave their lives in defense of a 

[92] 



Address of Mr. Burnett, of Alabama 

cause they thought was right and a flag they believed to 
be pure. 

In the still darker days that followed the war the 
embryo Senator, like thousands of country boys, was 
following the plow and laying the foundation of that 
mind and heart which afterwards made him the idol of 
his people. In spite of all the vicissitudes and privations 
amid which his early life was spent, the sparks of a laud- 
able ambition burned brightly in his mind, and he seized 
ever)' opportunity presented by those strenuous days to 
acquire an education. Struggling through the country 
schools, he entered college and acquired a good educa- 
tion for the countrj' boy of those days. Having studied 
law, he at once became a leader in that splendid 
profession. 

He soon became interested in politics, and when he 
was but little past 30 years old he was elected to the 
lower house of the legislature of his State, and in a little 
while was made the speaker of that body. In 1892 he was 
called higher by his people and elected to the State sen- 
ate, of which body he was at once made president. The 
Democratic Party of the State of Georgia, recognizing 
the splendid elements of leadership in Senator Clay, 
soon called him to the head of that party in the State. 

But greater honors than even these were in store for 
this noble son of Georgia. His people knew that in him 
they had a man of the common people whose every heart- 
beat was in unison with theii's and whose loyalty to them 
was never doubted. He knew their conditions, because 
he was one of them; he sympathized with their adversi- 
ties, because he himself had felt them; he knew their 
rough places in life, because he himself had trod them; 
they confided in him, because he never betrayed their 
confidence; they followed him, because they knew that 
in him they had a faithful leader; they loved him, 

[93] 



Memoriai, AnDRESSES : Senator Clay 



because he loved them; they honored him, because he 
was worthy of their honor. They honored themselves 
by honoring him with a seat in the United States Senate. 

My acquaintance with Senator Clay was more intimate 
than with any other Senator except those from my own 
State. 

One of the splendid navigable streams of Alabama is 
formed by the junction of two rivers at Rome, Ga. 
Senator Clay, ever alert to the interests of his people, 
was always a friend of that river. This river runs 
through my district, and my interest in improving its 
navigation brought me in close relations with Senator 
Clay'. 

1 always found him in ^his, as in all his other public 
duties, active, untiring, intelligent, honest, and courageous. 

He had the faculty of going to the bottom of every 
important question, and in a short time his great ability 
was recognized by his colleagues in the Senate, and he 
was assigned to some of the most important committees 
of that great body. 1 have heard that Senator Hanna 
once said of Senator Clay that, by his active and aggres- 
sive opposition to the ship-subsidy bill, he gave the Ohio 
Senator more trouble than any other man in the Senate. 

But he is gone, and Georgia will miss his great, honest 
mind and heart, and, with Georgia, the Nation mourns. 
His family and fi'iends mourn him, not as one who died 
without hope of the future, but they know that he died 
as he had lived, an honest man and a Christian gentle- 
man, and that — 

Beyond the sunset's radiant glow, 
There is a better land we know. 

And that in that better land the soul of their loved 
one — 

Rests under the sliade of the trees. 



m] 



Address of Mr. Bartlett, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: "Death aims with fouler spite at fairer 
marks," and surely the Great Destroyer and enemy of 
man has been busy during the Sixty-first Congress. With 
silent, sure, and remorseless activity he has gathered 
abundant harvest to his ever-filling, but ever-unfilled, 
garner — the tomb. Since last we met six United States 
Senators and four Representatives have passed on to — 

The undiscovered country, from whose bourn 
No traveler returns — 

and each Sabbath finds us here in the House paying our 
tribute to their memories, demonstrating that the fatali- 
ties amongst the Members of this Congress have far ex- 
ceeded that of any other in its history. All that they pos- 
sessed — station, learning, abilitj% rank in office — all that 
Ihey hoped for, could not for a moment stay the hand of 
the Great Destroyer. Silent, but sure and remorseless, 
he has heeded neither youth nor age, genius nor learning, 
poverty nor wealth, tears of relatives and friends nor the 
cold indifference of strangers. 

It has been well said that our life is a fountain fed by a 
thousand streams that perish if one be dry; it is a silver 
cord twisted by a thousand strings that part asunder if 
one be broken, and death lurks in ambush in all our paths. 
Among this number of Senators and Representatives who 
are called away from the Halls of the National Legisla- 
ture to — 

Join the innumerable caravan wliich moves 
To that mysterious reahii where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of deatli — 

[95] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Clay 



was Alexander Stephens Clay, late a Senator from 
Georgia. I come to-day to pay my tribute to his memory. 

Born on a farm in the mountain country of Georgia in 
1853, when suddenly called from life to eternity in 1910, 
he had by force of his own character, ability, and energy 
and efforts been a member of the council of the city where 
he resided; representative in the House of Representa- 
tives of the Legislature of Georgia; speaker of that house; 
a State senator and president of that body; a United States 
Senator from that Empire State of the South; then elected 
by a loyal and devoted constituency for three consecutive 
terms; truly this is a record of public service which is 
allotted to but few men, and which should and does 
demonstrate the worth and character of our dead friend; 
and when we know he merited all the confidence and 
trust a generous people of county, district, and State be- 
stowed upon him, we must say that Senator Clay was a 
remarkable and a great man. 

In his own biography in the Congressional Directory he 
states that he was born on a farm; and from his own lips 
I have often heard him speak of the arduous labor and 
toil spent as a boy in order to aid his father and his fam- 
ily and secure means to educate himself. He was never 
ashamed of his early trials and struggles. He knew, for 
he felt as all true and noble men feel, that no manly man 
should entertain anything of shame in looking back to 
early struggles with adverse circumstances and no man 
should feel worthier pride than when he has conquered 
the obstacles in his path. 

1 had known Senator Clay and been associated with 
him for nearly 30 years. When we were both struggling 
young practitioners at the bar, I first met him in attend- 
ance upon the supreme court, and during all these years 
our friendship has been close, warm, and lasting. I was 
associated with him when we were both members of the 



[96] 



Address of Mr. Bartlett, of Georgia 

Georgia Legislature, and I knew him intimately when he 
was speaker of the house and president of the senate. 
As a lawyer, he was industrious, attentive to the business 
intrusted to him, faithful to his clients, respectful to the 
court and to its authority; he sought for the truth in a 
case, and while he did not possess the fire of eloquence 
that other advocates may have had, yet the sincerity and 
earnestness of his convictions were such as to carrj' great 
force to the court and the jun*'. He soon attained the 
high position as leader of the bar of his section, and the 
plain, honest, mountain people amongst whom he lived 
soon became aware of the fact that in his hands their 
interests in the court were alwajs safe. 

As presiding officer of both house and senate, he was 
fair, impartial, firm, and just. This is demonstrated by 
the fact that when his term of office ceased, both as 
speaker and as president of the senate of Georgia, he 
had an army of devoted friends all over the State who 
rallied to him when he became a candidate for the United 
States Senate and elected him over distinguished and able 
opponents. 

He came to the United States Senate in 1897. He soon 
attained a prominent position there, a-nd it was not long 
before the Senate, without regard to party, realized his 
merit and his worth, and he was not only respected and 
admired by all, but loved by many. While Senator Clay 
was not an orator, whenever he undertook to take part 
in the debates of the Senate he so thoroughly prepared 
himself upon the subject by laborious study of the sub- 
ject which he undertook to discuss that he demonstrated 
the power of logic and reason which he so eminently 
possessed. His speech upon the ship-subsidy bill in 
opposition to that measure, where he met in the arena 
of debate men of marked ability and learning, distin- 
guished him as an eminent thinker and debater. His 



95298°— 11- 



[97] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 



speech on the tariff bill in 1909, on the subject of the 
Sugar Trust, evinced great research and labor, and 
attracted the attention not only of the Senate, but of 
the whole country. So efficient were his services in the 
Senate, so gratified were his friends and the people of 
the State which he represented so ably upon the floor 
of the Senate, that at no time was there a suggestion of 
opposition to him, and the people of Georgia would have 
been content for him to have remained in the Senate 
as their representative for many years could he have 
been spared to them. 

Senator Clay was a lovable man. The law of love 
dwelt abundantly in his heart, and in him was mingled 
the milk of human kindness. He was most agreeable in 
his intercourse with all men. He had patience, courtesy, 
love of truth and justice, and above all, coui'age to do 
what he believed to be right. Unlike many men in high 
office, he did not hesitate to do the small things for his 
friends. The details of the departments, items of local 
legislation, for the erection of public buildings in small 
towns, appropriations for rivers and harbors upon the 
small navigable streams, these and a multitude of similar 
detail matters were given earnest and prompt attention 
by Senator Clay for his constituents, and in endeavoring 
to aid the Representatives from his State, as though they 
were of the most vital importance. 

Strong and robust and healthy when he came to the 
Senate, a long life of service and duty was promised him, 
but without warning some two years ago he was taken ill. 
Probably, if he had taken the advice of friends and 
physicians, he might have prolonged his life, but he 
deemed it his duty to remain at his post in the Senate 
and to repi-escnt his constituents, and heedless of the 
advice of friends, family, and physicians he stood at 
his post daily representing his people and performing 



[98] 



Address of Mr. Bartlett, of Georgia 

his duties, and when he went home the strain was greater 
than nature could bear, and the silver cord was broken, 
and he has left us. 

He was a most loyal and faithful husband, a fond, 
indulgent, and affectionate father, and a true and unfal- 
tering friend. He was loved by the people where he 
lived, and thousands gathered around his tomb when we 
buried him, and the whole countiy wept. He died when 
little advanced beyond the prime of life, but his success 
is equal to that of the favored ones of the day. He 
accomplished much, he acquired success, friends, and 
the confidence of all who knew him. When he was so 
suddenly called away from us and all these, the past 
yielded to him a great deal of gratifying retrospection, 
the present offered the richest elements of happiness, and 
the future beckoned and called him to high honor and 
ample resources of enjoyment. 

What a noble example has Senator Clay set for the 
young men of his State ! True diligence, industiy in 
business, regularity and loyalty in every undertaking, 
honesty and uprightness in all his conduct with his fel- 
low man both in private life and public station, surely 
this is the basis of our social relations. This was the 
secret by which he achieved so great a success, and it 
should be an example on which the young men of our 
countrj' should be proud to form themselves, an example 
that refutes the dull maxim of idleness and profligacy, 
and points out the sure and true road and the only high- 
way in the Republic to honor, fortune, and reputation. 

The life of Senator Clay thus ended teaches us that 
there is a land elsewhere than this where the souls of 
such men go and live in immortality, for — 

Such men are not forgot as soon as dead; 
Their fragrant memory will outlast their tomb, 
Embalmed forever in its own perfume. 



[99], 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Clay 

We shall not see him again in this life, but we hope 
and believe — yea, we know — that in a glorious city, a 
great and distant city, he has entered a mansion incor- 
ruptible, " not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 
Our friend, as we do, believed in — 

That God which ever lives and loves, 

One God, one law, one element, 

And one far-off divine event 
To which the whole world moves. 






[100] 



LB Mr '12 



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